


Make me fall

by Kagamine_chiin



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Alternate Universe, Corpses, Criminal Investigation, Drug Dealing, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Forbidden Love, Gangleader!Kagami, Gangs, M/M, Minor Violence, Original Character(s), Police, Torture, cop!aomine
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-03-10
Updated: 2015-04-03
Packaged: 2018-01-15 07:10:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 42,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1296043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kagamine_chiin/pseuds/Kagamine_chiin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kagami is a gang leader whose love is faithful to his family and Aomine is an undercover cop whose job is to arrest him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Taiga couldn't say he was proud of his life. He knew he was someone of many values who deeply respected the others and their lives, but he couldn't respect nor be happy with the turn of events his own life took some years ago.

Sure, now, he was not alone anymore. Now he belonged to a  _family_ , a gang to tell the truth, but they were his new  _family_  and the one who protected and raised him when the real one did nothing but throw him away like garbage.

He never thought about looking for them. He just accepted his fate and everything his new  _family_  told him. Truth or lie, he couldn't really care with the passing years. The fact that he was not proud of his life had nothing to do with his real parents even if they could have made things better or at least different if they didn't abandon him.

He was not proud of his life because he knew that being a gang leader was not something society would see as good thing to become.

He was no man to care for others' thoughts, but the more adulthood hit him the more he understood that he would have wanted to do something else of his life. Something he would have fully liked, respected and fought for when necessary. Something the person he really cared for would not be scared or disappointed to hear about. 

But the kind of life he had been living up until now, didn't exactly make him sad. Sure enough he was unable to build a safe life for himself and was left without real and concrete future, but his gang was proud of him and it did matter for him because they were his  _family_  and he would never abandon or betray the people who took him in as he knew and loathed the feeling.

He was left to a lonely and pitiful death, they,  _he_ , saved him. He couldn't say he was proud of his life, but it was everything he had and he knew better than anyone else that it was better than having nothing.

  He stood still in front of the poor-looking white building in which he and his men had business, breathing in and out of his lungs the cold and dry air surrounding him. His hazel-red pupils slowly, and in a rather disinterested way, followed the people around in their slightest movement.

It was distracting in a better way than his hand playing with a lighter in the deepness of the pocket of his white tuxedo. Distracting not only for his boredom, but also for the fact that he was too self-conscious like every time he had to dress so flashy for the job.

A woman across the road, red satin dress revealing part of her body even a man like Taiga would never agree to show and make-up so heavy that even in the dim lighting of the red light district he could still be scared of, started flashing him some knowing looks that turned into winks and tongue-fucking in the distance. Taiga smirked at her and gave her the look, the one saying he may be interested and she grinned widely. But in fact he was not in the least interested in her nor in any of her comrade soon paying attention to him too.

“Boss,” a slender man with long raven hair tied in a low ponytail and piercing all over his face, and without doubt all over his body too, slightly shorter than the redhead, appeared from behind and put an arm on Taiga's shoulder, leaning on to him. “We are finished here.”

“Yeah?” the redhead slightly turned his way, nostrils heaving a relieved sigh and lips stretching into a tiny smile. “What took you guys so long?”

The man pulled out a cigarette from his pocket and put it between his lips, looking up expectantly to the redhead. “They are way too slow in there,” he nodded toward the building behind them, muttering with his busy lips as Taiga pulled out his lighter from his own pocket and lighted his cigarette.

“Yeah?” Taiga chuckled to the happy face the man made as he breathed out his beloved nicotine and shook his head, looking ahead of him. “Well, I am bored. Let's go ho…”

“Snake,” Taiga rolled his eyes toward the man with his exposed and weird eyebrows twitching in displeasure. “Come home with me.” He added, his gray eyes burning hole into Taiga's forehead with an intensity Taiga never loved to see in his men' eyes.

It made him uncomfortable because he saw them all like his brothers and brothers did not desire each other's like that. He slightly opened his mouth, brows furrowing deeper, but the words he intended to say remained on his lips.

The man was pulled away from the redhead by another one, still shorter than Taiga, but more muscular and also taller than the first one. “Ivy,” he growled, strangling the raven hair man with all his might. “I already told you to stop hitting on your boss, didn't I?” he inquired, low and scaring rough voice echoing in the alley.

“Nana, l-let me fucking go, you gorilla!!”

“What did you say, son of a bitch?”

Kagami chuckled and shook his head, soon rejoined by four other men just coming out of the building. “What the hell are they doing again?” one blonde asked as he passed near Taiga.

“Playing around like always.” Another muttered and sighed in desperation.

“Hey, guys, get yourself a fucking room!!” the smallest of the group, a boy who just hit his 20, too young for Kagami’s taste, got near them and tried to kick them apart. “You are annoying!!” he kicked them again and again and made a dash when the two focused on him for payback.

“Well, well," Taiga chuckled again but cleared his throat, his smile slowly fading. "Let’s go now guys!!” he ordered firmly enough for them to stop playing.

They all got into the black car waiting for them, silent at first, but soon Taiga had to bear with another fight inside the damn vehicle. By the time he reached home he was fucking tired, but he couldn't complain.

~

Aomine had his head lying on his desk, mouth watering and drool running down the corner of his mouth to his chin and further to his laps. He was snoring deeply when the door of his office was suddenly open and he had to straighten himself in a hurry with so much violence he almost fell backward.

“A-Aomine-san?” a petite and blond woman peered into the slight opening she made of the door. “What are you doing?” she exclaimed, horrified when she noticed that the man was surely sleeping the whole time. She entered the office, closed the door behind her and hurried to him with her hands crossed on her chest. “The chief is here and you are next after Takimura-san. He had entered his office several minutes ago already.” She panicked, looking around at the messy desk and the sloppy man in front of her.

“Hurhg,” Aomine groaned and blinked a few times, palm wiping the tiredness away from his face. He slid down into his chair and exhaled deeply. “What time is it?” he asked, voice groggy and so deep it startled her. She looked up to the wall behind him and then started tidying his desk. “A-already 10pm, w-why?” she pulled together all the dispersed documents and the important files he, without doubt, spent the night before and the whole day analyzing.

“I am so damn hungry,” he complained; face bored and still a bit sleepy. She picked up the pictures, the sheets of paper and all the things on the floor and put them in his drawers. “Pl-please wait a little bit for that.” She threw the crumbled piece of sheets in the trash and hurried to the blackboard on their left to clean it a little bit.

“Don't touch that, Mikki!” he barked out harshly and she flinched, turning toward him with apologizing eyes. “I-I am sorry, I just want to…”

The door was flung open widely and the chief of the crime squad stepped into his office. “Aomine,” he eyed Aomine who reluctantly stood up, hands burying themselves in his pockets. “And Mikkitani-san.” He looked at her and she bowed slightly. “Good evening.” He closed the door behind him and started inspecting Aomine's office.

“Hmm, it is clean, Aomine.” He nodded appreciatively. “So clean it seems to be a miracle!” he rolled his eyes toward the blonde woman and she looked down, guiltiness heavy on her shoulders. “Well, it is ok, I guess.” He leant over Aomine's desk and looked at his board. “I need you, Aomine. Here!” he threw a black file on the desk and Aomine eyed it suspiciously.

“I am currently on something, chief!” he looked up to him and the chief stared at him unabashed.

“Then drop it!”

“Huh? It is big and I am alre-”

“This!” the chief pointed out to the file, forcing Aomine to finally take it. “Is bigger and you have no choice.”

Aomine frowned and crumbled the piece he was holding between his angry fingers. His lips twitched painfully in an attempt not to let out what he really wanted to say right now. He spent an entire week not sleeping because of the case he currently had and there he was asking him to drop it when he was finally getting something after all this work.

"You are surely fucking kidding me, are you?" he growled. 

“You are the best here!” the chief turned around, totally ignoring his words and walking toward the board with his hands in his back, oblivious, or not really, to Aomine's anger. “And I hope for you to remain the best. This is really big.”

The woman backed up from the board and glanced at Aomine, silently asking him to accept it. Aomine frowned at her and she looked down.

“So?” the chief looked back at him. Aomine sighed and opened the file, flipping quickly its content and nodding as an answer. “Great.” He smiled widely. “You have a month to find the real identity of  _Snake_!”

“Snake?” she asked without thinking, soon wrapping her hands on her mouth. The chief looked at her and then back at Aomine.

“It is ok.” Aomine said, nodding hastily and the chief shared an unconvinced glance to him, but didn't voice it.

“We have nothing on him because he seems to be protected by the yakuza. The drug department suspected him to be the head of the drug traffic here.”

“I have never heard of him.”

“Yeah, even his false identity remained secret during a long time. We caught some small dealers and the only thing we got from them was this nickname. He somewhat is the new boss and with him everything works hundred times better than before.”

“So now his gang is real threat.”

“Yeah, we need to focus on them. I am glad you understand it.”

“And you give me one month where the drug department itself did nothing in what? Years?”

“Now, now, Aomine. I requested your help because time is running against us. We spent too much time waiting for him to make a mistake. Now we need to go for him.  _You_  need to go for him!”

~

Taiga sat on a bench near the outdoor court, white tank top and black sarouel pants sticking from sweat to his body. He panted slightly, eyes following the teens playing rough basketball in front of him, eyebrows and hair hidden under a black and white bonnet.

He could tell the kids had talent and some were even worth his excitement, but he couldn't risk playing them because the moment he would win after a fair game, the whole crew would want to bleed him to death. They were demons masked under teens' appearance and he knew he was better than them.

Their style was wild and many didn't even know the rules of the game. He wanted to play. He missed playing the game, but he didn't want to be involved in a fight, not when the police was never really far, not when he was now someone who had to remain in the shadow.

He sighed out of frustration and got up, ready to resume on his afternoon jogging when he spotted a tanned and tall man entering the court, orange ball under his armpit and almighty smirk plastered on his lips.

Taiga's gaze absentmindedly remained focused on him as he headed straight to the kids. The man stood in front of the kids and interrupted them, a hand sliding in the length of his shining navy blue hair, another one bouncing expertly the orange ball on the ground.

He exchanged few words with them and by the way their faces twisted unpleasantly as they arranged themselves to play against him, Taiga understood that the man was going to have a bad ending.

He sat again, curious because in a certain way the man caught his attention. Such tanned complexion, muscular and perfectly proportioned body tightly plastered by a grey v-shirt and light blue jeans. Taiga couldn't deny that he was finding the guy very well-built and he was not even close enough for him to see his face.

He was hoping it not to be deceiving or something. Well, he had to focus on the match even if five against one was pretty low. But it seemed the man was confident enough not to look for a team or even a second person.

Taiga was not expecting anything spectacularly, but he did want to know if the man knew how to fight. Because, damn, he was sure the kids would want to beat him even if he did lose.

And then, he caught the ball from one of them and everything that happened after, in like a matter of second, left Taiga's mouth gaping like a cat fish.

“Damn,” he muttered to no one, eyes wide open and grin spreading on to his lips.  _He is fucking good_. 

 

“Oî, oî, kid!” Aomine wiped no sweat on his forehead with disdain, bouncing the ball he captured again and was too lazy to make a shot no one was trying to block. “Is that all you got?” he scoffed, hand finding the heat of his pocket.

“Go fuck yourself, old geezer!!” one barked out, pulling out a knife from who know where. Aomine smirked, shaking his head slowly like a disappointed mother. “You guys are some bad losers, huh?”

“Whadya say?” he charged, but Aomine threw him a formless shot right in his face.

“If I were you I wouldn't fuck with me.” He threatened darkly, retrieving the ball from near his victim's face. Another one tried his bad luck and met a fate worse than the first one.

The remaining standing kids looked at each other and cursed loudly before picking up their friends. This was no joke when the other was actually as stronger as he looked like.

Aomine sighed and resumed on bouncing the ball, bored expression on his face. They didn't even make him sweat. Seriously. Since they were some random kids he thought playing alone against them would be fair enough even if no one could beat him. But there, he should have stayed home because it was a loss of time.

“Oî, dude!”

Aomine lifted an eyebrows and turned around slowly. He was quickly met with an innocent grin and shinning eyes burning hole into his navy one.

“Yeah, dude?” he answered back lazily, spinning the ball on his index and putting his hand in his pocket.

“You still up for a game? I saw you play and these kids were not nearly enough for you, were they? Mind a better challenge?” Kagami offered, stretching his body.

Aomine smirked. “You bet they were.” He looked at Kagami from head to toe, well-proportioned body indicating he could actually be someone interesting to play. Well, he could be. He avoided expecting too much. "I hope you can be a little bit useful for my boredom."

Taiga shook his head and smiled. He was really arrogant. But yet, he was not at all deceive from up close. Hell, he had never felt so excited in months. The challenge, the new encounter, one that had nothing to do with his job and he didn't have to feel guilty or self-conscious.

Aomine threw the ball at his new opponent in casual clothing that matched well his sun-kissed skin and rather handsome face.

“Entertain me, then!”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you very much for leaving kudos ;) ~

Taiga collapsed dead near his bonnet. He was panting harshly, his throat felt unbearably dry, his chest was on fire and his body had given up on him. He remained motionless during a long time, relishing the fresh and calm air, listening to the silent noise nothing made around him, mind and body freed from everything.

When he felt like he was not going to die anymore, that was still not exactly certain with the pain in his muscle; he finally rolled on to his back with a slight groan. He blinked several times, but it still seemed that his blood had not yet reached his brain because he was still dizzy and felt like throwing up.

His eyes slowly focused in a sort of daze on the starry sky above him and only now did he fully notice that the night had joined them, and it seemed like, a long time ago after they started playing. He widely opened his eyes, stunned. That would mean they had been playing ball since the afternoon and they just stopped now only because, seriously, they couldn’t bear with it anymore, at least they bodies couldn’t because their spirits were still totally in the challenge.

His condition then was totally justified. He couldn’t believe it. It was the first that time sped up on him like that without him actually paying attention and with him already missing it so deeply. “The fuck happened?” he breathed out the moment his mind proceeded with everything, face still shocked.

“I can relate,” a mix between a low and annoyed grunt and an uneven panting reached his ears. He was almost startled as he slowly turned his head toward the source of the voice.

Aomine was sitting not too far; hands leaning on the ground behind him with his head threw backward. His mouth was half open, his eyes were closed and Taiga could spot, even in the night, the slight, but erratic movement of his thin nose as he breathed in more than what used to.

He suppressed a chuckle because, really, he didn’t have enough air for that. Where was this bored guy who dared to think that Taiga would entertain his boredom? The redhead would have wanted to tease, but they had already fought a lot during the match and he was too tired to even think of a comeback if the man, thing that would totally happened, accepted his challenge.

The redhead sneered and silently observed his profile when Aomine didn’t do anything more than glaring at him and throwing his head back again. Taiga didn’t actually want to think about it deeply, but the guy was one hell of a hot guy. Lean and slender frame; elegant features; exotic complexion and he couldn’t believe he, himself, used such words as a description; short navy blue hair that made him really masculine and it was not as if he found the long hair feminine or something; very muscular body and very piercing midnight eyes that could draw some hidden thoughts out of your system.

He had never met him before and he surely would have remembered it because, the guy surely was hot, but his basketball was hella something too and Taiga would have totally remembered him if they had already played together. He used to play in outside courts a lot with and against many strangers.

Aomine tilted his head to his side and locked eyes with Taiga. The redhead tried not to flinch because he was aware he had been eying him like a stalker, but he was curious and he was just admiring him a little bit because of his basketball of course, ok? Nothing more, nothing less.

Aomine’s eyes twitched as they focused on him and upon feeling uncomfortable with the sudden intense (but what was not intense with these eyes) scrutiny, Taiga furrowed his brows and held his stare with questioning eyes.

Aomine started chuckling and, quickly, laughing his ass off. Taiga got up with a wince and faced him while sitting. “What the fuck, asshole?” he scowled. Was this guy fucking mocking a gang leader? Yeah he was nice, yeah he was easy-going and liked better to be discreet, but also yes he was a boss and fuck, he had never liked to be made fun of. And, Aomine was, was he not?

Aomine laughed huskily and loudly in the calm night, holding his stomach tightly and bending over. “Wh-what the hell with these eyebrows? You a monkey or something? H-how ridiculous.”

Yes, he totally was.

He scowled deeper and sent him a mere kick. “That is rude, you fucking bastard!!” Taiga shouldn’t be so not angry about the whole thing. He shouldn’t, but damn, it was difficult not to laugh back when the most scowling guy he had ever met on earth was genuinely laughing his ass off like that in front of him, appearing thousand times more handsome and young.

He still didn’t know him, he still had in mind that relationships were not for him and, well, he still didn’t know his name and was not going to ask for it, but, weirdly, he was feeling like it wouldn’t be bad to see the man laugh like that any time soon even if he knew he shouldn’t.

Well, he shouldn’t.

So, when Aomine stood up and excused himself, he merely turned his back to the tanned man and waved him off goodbye. And, they didn’t make any plan to play together again.

~

Taiga slicked his hair carefully to the back, exposing his eyebrows like usual and for the first time, he laughed at them for a very particular reason. He jogged to his room, took a towel, threw it around his neck and continued to his kitchen.

He bounced air between his palms as if he was working a ball and then bounced it to the floor as a navy blue hair opponent appeared in front of him, eyes flashing blue light in an intense gaze. He got excited.

The redhead faked left then right, turned on his heels and dashed to nowhere before making a shot toward the balcony. He did it again and again. Focused, possessed.

“Wow,” a voice cracked behind him and he turned so fast he swore he sprained his spin.

“Fuck, Ivy,” he rubbed his nape, wincing in pain and cursing low. “Don’t do that?”

“Do what?” the guy asked innocently, holding his hand as if he really didn’t get what he had done.

“Don’t sneak on me, retard!” he hissed through clenched teeth. Fuck, his neck really hurt.

“That is mean, I didn’t do it on purpose.” He deadpanned his boss, shoulders dropping low. Taiga paid him no apologizing glance and reached for his fridge door. “Then learn to knock on the fucking door.”

“It was open. You should be more careful.”

Taiga pulled out a bottle of water and threw him a glance over his shoulder, slightly wincing in pain, before looking at the door. Really? How careless of him. What was he thinking not locking his door.

“Something happened?” his brother asked as if reading his mind and dropped himself on a couch, arms spread out on the armrest.

Taiga poured himself the liquid into a glass and put back the bottle in the fridge. He shook his head while rehydrating his throat. “Why do you ask?”

Ivy eyed him from head to toe and shrugged, averting his gaze. “Dunno,”

Taiga frowned, but didn’t bulge and shrugged himself. “Well, I was able to relax, it is all.”

“You played?”

“Yeah,” Taiga said, enthusiast, with a wide grin. “An amazing game.”

Ivy squinted his eyes and focused on the redhead’s expression. “Alone?”

His grin faded and he trailed off inwardly. “Huum, yes…?”

“Things are getting serious here lately,” he said, removing his jacket. “You know what that means, don’t you? Not any bosses are so free and careless enough to play around like kidos who…”

“Watch your mouth, Ivy.” Taiga’s put the glass in the sink and stared at it. “I know already.”

Yeah, he knew. He fucking did.

“Good,” Ivy said in a subordinated tone. “Are you ready? The guys are waiting.”

“Yeah,” Taiga mumbled and headed to his room, removing the towel on his neck and not jogging back happily. “Be right back.”

~

Aomine half crossed his arms and pressed his index and thumb into his flesh, holding his chin tight as he stared deeply at the mix of pictures and papers and scribbles on the board. His eyes followed a particular road on it, going to one picture to the words and details and what relation it could have with another. Everything built up quickly in his head and he was utterly focused.

Mikki gently stood up near him, holding in her hands another file and a lot of pictures. He quickly threw her a glance and resumed on his analyzes. “What do we have here?” he inquired. She opened the file and flipped through its content.

“Well,” she cleared her throat, slightly peering on to his face. “The dealers who were arrested belong to various gangs. Actually, smaller ones who hadn't any influence on the real traffic.”

“So, we can’t get anything from them if they are actually simple traders in the gang.”

“Yes,” she nodded, turning around to stick two particular pictures in the remaining of space on the board. “But?” he inquired again.

“But it is possible that two of them,” she pointed the two pictures showing average Japanese guys. “have some acquaintances or relatives in one of the biggest gangs.”

Aomine looked at her with a face asking for more explanation. “Six years ago, this one,” she pointed one of the guys. “was arrested as a pimp for the Silver Dragons.”

“This gang doesn’t exist anymore.”

“Yes, but some of its members are still alive.”

“Of course,” he nodded duly. “Silver Dragons were, like, the number two gang in the traffic. Snake is the new boss, but he is not new in the traffic, they surely know about him.”

“Yes,” she exclaimed happily, but then dropped his head. “I-I think so too, but it wouldn’t be easy because the yakuzas are there and no one knows where these guys went to…” she trailed off bitterly, heaving a tired sigh.

He eyed her and smirked, frantically patting her messy bun. “That is what make things fun, isn’t it?”

“I-I don’t think so.” she shook her head at him, expression not convinced.

“Geez, you are no fun.”

~

Aomine drank up his umpteenth glass of whiskey and still nothing was happening. He still had in the corner of his eyes the blond guy sitting in a hidden spot of the nightclub, talking endlessly on the phone without meeting any one and it was getting boring after two hours in a row.

The only thing he could win like that was a serious hangover the day after and certainly not the information he wanted. He sighed and shifted on to his seat, turning around and glancing over the whole room, as if looking for a partner. Some girls blinked at him and he just blinked back with his signature smirk, but nothing more.

“You shy?” the bartender leant over and whispered behind him.

“Mind your own damn business, moron.” He answered back as nothing. The guy laughed, but Aomine didn’t care much.

A small boy sat up in front of his blond and they started chatting up. The boy seemed underage and if not, maybe he just reached 20 or something. He acted very touchy-feely with the man and even if they appeared more as lovers than people dealing together, Aomine still focused on them.

He turned back to observe them discreetly.

When their kiss-chat session led them elsewhere, Aomine paid the bill and stood up. He grabbed one woman on the dance flour and followed them. She was so drunk she didn’t pay attention, nor protest.

She leant on him, not walking fast enough and made him stumble in the entrance way when someone came in.

“Oww, you stupid bitch!” he cursed and she laughed drunkenly while sliding to the flour.

“Wow, how nice of you.” He turned around with a scowl, but rather quickly. The voice was slightly familiar. Then, he met eyes with a flushed redhead: sparkling red eyes, crimson eyebrows and innocent wide grin plastered on his handsome features.

“Fancy meeting you here, mister honorable gentleman,” he teased, looking from the woman to Aomine, but mostly Aomine.

Taiga was wrapped under a thick coat, but it seemed to be of poor help against the cold abusing him. Aomine sneered and kicked out the hand grabbing onto his leg. “You are still so ridiculous.” He growled, but he was smirking contently.

Taiga’s grin widened, if possible, with a menacing and deadly glint. “What did you say?”

“Nothing you can deny,” he added and brushed past the redhead hastily. “Well, sorry, I need to go.”

“Why in the hurry?” Taiga breathed out unintentionally. He was so not trying to keep him here. But Aomine saw the disappointment in his eyes as he still drifted away from him.

“That is none of your business,” he cut firmly, a deep scowl on his forehead. He was annoyed by the time he was losing here and still he, kind of, didn’t really mind and it annoyed him more because, fuck, he spent like three hours waiting for something to happen and here was he, chatting with a random acquaintance when he needed to be following someone.

Taiga didn’t hide his dejected face. He remained silent for a moment and then, smiled sadly? But it was for a mere second so Aomine was not sure and why would he even be sad? Very quickly, Taiga wore an impassive mask, tone missing the previous warm. “Yeah, you’re right." he nodded. "Good night.”

He turned around as soon as he was done talking and Aomine did the same, but then he realized he had already lost the two men and it was not necessary to be harsh on the redhead. But, he was not harsh, he was just being himself.

He turned back seconds later. He surely was not feeling guilty, it was not bothering him and he just wanted to call the guy and maybe say that he was not trying to be harsh or something, but then he realized he didn’t know his name.

He didn’t know anything, but he still, surely, felt guilty.

Aomine cursed inwardly and kicked invisible stone, rolling his eyes and burying his hands in his blue coat.

He was no man of guilt and he hated feeling it. He shrugged the thought off and headed to his car.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We get to know how Aomine’s brain works. No Kagami in this chapter tho.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, thank you really much for kudos and comments ~ :3

The same night, right after getting home, Aomine bathed, ate and then silently sat at the desk in his special room, the room he used when he brought work from the office and in which he stayed like three nights on ten when necessary, sleeping on the couch inside (there was no bed) and working like a mad scientist.

He kept reflecting on what had happened in the evening, especially on how he lost the man he was following plus his, potential, accomplice as if he was a beginner and after putting so much effort into finding him in the town.

It was frustrating. He had, like, not all the time on earth to fulfill the task at hand and four days had passed already. And, the only thing he had been able to do was find someone that could help him and then, lose him.

He slid in the chair and went through the motions of throwing his feet on one of the unstable pile of documents and files lying on his desk. He intertwined his fingers on his stomach as he looked up to the blank ceiling, brows deeply furrowed and lips twitching. Thinking about it made him also remember about the redhead and how rudely he talked to him and then, how guilty it still made him feel.

He was unconsciously thinking that it was the woman's fault if he failed so miserably and surely not because he met with a certain redhead. After all, the latter was just a brief acquaintance of three days ago, one that he didn't forget about, but one he was surely not expecting to meet again and not in such place.

He was someone Aomine would have described as a long-awaited opponent if only he had met him 10 years ago. He was able to put up with the tanned man and not only once, but, like, all the time their not-so-little entertainment lasted.

Aomine had already admitted to himself that the kid was freaking good (even if he preferred mocking him to avoid making unnecessary compliments). Still, that was no excuse for him to be the focus of Aomine's attention the moment he appeared. It was no excuse for such a stupid mistake.

He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose; thinking about his own behavior was so difficult. It was a pain in the ass. He was a genius at analyzing others', but when it came to himself, he was a total mess.

He had never been good in taking new look at himself.

Aomine jumped in his chair when his phone suddenly started ringing in his right pocket. He growled some censored words and fell back into his original position as he proceeded on what was happening. It was annoying and he felt bothered every time his damn phone rang.

He closed his eyes and pretended not to hear it. He was too lazy and too frustrated to talk to anyone at the moment and he assumed that the person surely had enough of his shit already.

But his phone's screams didn't stop at all. If not it got louder and he was having a headache already. He scowled deeper and finally picked it, glancing quickly at his screen and growling again.

"What do you want?"

'Dai-chan, how are you?' the woman demanded shrilly. Her voice pierced through the device and he had to pull it away from his ear with a wince.

"The fuck, Satsuki? Don't yell!"

'Dai-chan, you meanie! I didn't yell.' She huffed with an audible pout in her dropped octave.

"Whatever," he grumbled, satisfied with the new volume. He ran a hand through his hair and closed his eyes, sighing in exhaustion. 'Are you ok?' she inquired worriedly and he rolled his eyes under his burning eyelids before opening them again.

"What do you want?" he snapped again, rudely.

'Geeeeez,' she growled too, though weakly. 'You never change, Ahomine-kun. Well, I just want to remind you of our date tomorrow since I already know that you forgot it.'

Aomine blinked and abruptly straightened himself, nearly falling out of his chair, but successfully knocking over two piles of documents. "The fuck we have a date, Satsuki? Wait a little bi-"

'So,' she silenced him firmly, not listening to his blatter because it was a usual thing between the two and she was too damn used to his wailing. 'I am not asking you to be on time, but at least don't get lost. And, don't even think of standing me up, ok?'

"W-wait, Satsuki! Seriously tomorrow is kind of…"

'Good night, Dai-chan, please, go to sleep now!' She finally exclaimed, ignoring him with no room for any further discussion, her last words sounding threateningly.

"The fuck?" he cursed loudly minutes after she hung up on him, still chocked. It was a lost cause.

Aomine sighed and flung the phone on the desk, pushing the remaining files on the floor. "Oooh, fuck!"

~

"Dai-chan, are you even listening?" she tilted her head to the side to have a better look of his face, squinting her eyes at him and invading his personal space while patting the back of the little pink-haired girl in her arms.

He cringed when she called out, objecting her meddling. "What?" He snarled gruffly, staring at them from the corner of his eyes and, of course, furrowing deeper.

"Dai-chan, stop pouting already, will you?" She shook her head with a tiny smile, her short hair swinging gracefully on her frail shoulders.

He rolled his eyes, annoyed, but eventually looked back at her, locking gaze with the sight of Momoi suddenly busy wiping drool off her baby's chin. Only with the gesture, one could tell how gentle and experienced she was as a mother.

Somehow, she seemed so much mature now that she had cut her hair. It didn't make her old like he thought it would. Instead, she appeared even more beautiful and graceful than she already was years ago, and with a baby in her hand, she inspired total respect while he was sulking like a kid beside her.

The two noticed his lingering stare on them and, for a reason he didn't quite understand, they started smiling at him both in sync. Aomine hastily averted his eyes, a disgusting flush plastered on his tanned face because they were so cute it didn’t even seem real. And, they were not fair for making such a grown man flush.

Momoi genuinely chuckled at him and shook her head again, right before kissing her baby's forehead. The girl giggled at the kiss and clumsily tried to kiss her mother's forehead too, but only reached Momoi's chin.

"How is Ai-chan?" she suddenly used a more serious tone.

He rolled his eyes and sighed, cursing under his breath.  _Here, she goes again_. It was always the same and he came to think that she originally started calling him out to discuss his love life rather than merely spending time with him or using his strength.

Shifting all the fucking heavy bags in his less abused hands, he shrugged dismissively with a grumble. "Dunno," he started glancing from side to side, suddenly focused on the shops around them when he was totally bored and annoyed when their entered the mall some hours ago.

"Dai-chan, Are you going to remain single your entire life? Don't you want to marry or something?" she looked up pleadingly at him, but he avoided her eyes. "Dai-chan?"

He shrugged again, his expression darkening with each of her words. He just didn't give a fuck and it was annoying to always hear his childhood friend lecturing him about his own life like she was his mother.

She heaved a deep sigh, her expression showing how worried and caring she was about him, but he obviously didn't want to listen to her. She was used to it by now, but it was still so frustrating. Then, again, she had no intention to be insistent.

Momoi looked down when the girl gently tugged at her pink locks. She smiled then, easing the rather worried expression on her baby's face and Momoi couldn't help but wonder if she understood something or if she just reacted along with her mother's expression.

"Have not you finished already, Satsuki?" Aomine dropped himself on a bench, sliding tiredly into it. She stood near him and raised an eyebrow, staring down disappointedly at his lazy ass. She sighed and threw a brief glance at all the things she already bought and then back at the remaining shops. There was just a few more and she noticed she may already have everything she needed.

"Well, we are done, are not we Shizumi?" she inquired to her baby, shifting her playfully in her hand and making a face to which her girl burst out in happy and contagious giggles that made Momoi laughed too.

Aomine barely fought a smile, coughing in embarrassment and averting his gaze from the cute scene. "I am hungry," he grumbled halfheartedly and she glared at him.

"Let's go to Magi, then" she turned on her heels, puffing out her cheeks and pointing up her nose to the ceiling. He rolled his eyes and sighed. He upset her again.

~

"Do you think you will make it on time?"

"Yes, yes, Dai-chan," Momoi nodded frantically, not looking at him because she was locking the belt of the baby seat in the back of her car. Once she was done she patted her girl's hair and smiled tenderly while muttering a "Behave, ok?" and then, she sat straight in her seat.

Momoi switched her engine on, looking up to the tanned man leaning on her car with his face near her window.

"I will be ok. Thank you for today, Dai-chan."

"Yeah," he mumbled, kissing the back window with a loving smile. His gesture was rewarded by a giggle from the little girl behind. "See you soon," both said and he straightened to let her move off. He waved at them and left when hers disappeared from his sight

Aomine quickly sat in his own car. He stole a sidelong glance at his passenger seat, making sure the bag of burgers he bought for dinner was still here. The aroma in the car was a good indication of their presence and it made him drool at the thought of slowly eating them on his couch in front of a match or something. And, the thought made him very eager to go home.

The cloudy sky above made him drove quickly enough in order to avoid the rain.

He glanced out of his window; thinking about Momoi's word and how she easily dropped her meddling unlike usual. Maybe it was supposed to make him understand that things were getting desperate for him.

But, it was his life and he really didn't give a fuck because love, children, family and marriage were for people who had found their significant other. That person that totally steals your heart, makes you happy and dizzy and without which you can't live or something like that, he didn't quite know how it worked.

Still, there was no such person as far as he was concerned. So why thinking too deeply? He was not even sure if he knew how to love. The only thing he had ever and fully loved in his life was basketball. It was fair, honest, simple and amazing.

People were liars, cheaters and killers.

He couldn't trust his partners; he couldn't open himself to them; he couldn't not be doubtful; he simply couldn't love them wholeheartedly because as a cop he knew well that the worst of betrayals came from those we love the most.

He would investigate on every one of them, to keep sure, to protect himself. And, there were always things that were better as secrets. Even when the things were nothing serious, he would remain on his guard and such a paranoid partner was a pain in the ass for the other one. But, he was not paranoid, he was considerate of himself and even if he knew he was somewhat wrong, he just couldn't help it.

His job didn't ruin his life, not at all. He regretted nothing. Regrets were a loss of time. He was just totally fine by himself. Love was not for him and he had basketball.

Basketball was, like, everything for him. Basketball forever only.

Here in his train of thought, his eyes spotted a familiar court and he smirked briefly. If it was not going to rain and if he was not still hungry despite what he already ate with Momoi he would have stopped and played a little bit to clear his mind. All alone was oka…

_Wait a minute!_

Aomine suddenly braked and backed off before his brain could proceed on everything. He stopped the car and stared at the back facing him behind the fences.

The person was sitting, motionless, surely staring ahead of him and even if he was hidden by a red hoodie, something about the frame felt familiar and something, still about it, made him grab a can of coke in his bag of food, get out of the car and head toward it.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aomine and our redhead takes some little time to not only fight with each other.

The only thing Taiga didn't stop remembering was how he rolled up his sleeves while asking the blindfold and tied man who sent him to spy on the gang; and how he took a plier from the chariot full of painful tools to torture him.

He could remember how the man shuddered when he approached him, how he begged for his life with pleading tears, saying he was innocent and all and also, above all, how he cursed his pain through dried throat and unbearable moans.

He could remember all the blood in the chair, how it perfectly matched the filthy and dark atmosphere in the room and how it was so disgusting yet it didn't repulse him, It didn't make him stop.

_"I hope you will never feel happiness and freedom in your life."_

Taiga was frozen. A cold shiver ran up his arms and body as he remembered too vividly what he did to the man afterward, despite his pleas.

He had been too full of anger and frustration, and he had let it take the better of him. But, of course, it was no excuse.

He had never been scared of pain nor had he been of the real life in which he lived. He was a man of values, one who respect other's life, but he would never ever let anyone hurt a member of his gang, one in his family. It was as simple as that.

Yet, he was scared of himself, scared of the things he was forced and increasingly able to do to keep them safe, scared that his heart would sink in darkness and that emptiness and loneliness would engulf him for good.

He was staring into emptiness, motionless and expressionless, heart barely beating as memories kept playing again and again in his mind. He wanted it to stop, but he knew he deserved it. He would never be used to it, but he knew he deserved it.

Taiga didn't even flinch when, suddenly, a cold and unknown object collided rudely with his forehead. He parted his lips and breathed in deeply to the overly cold touch, but didn't move. It was cold, but in a different and more reassuring way than the cold he was feeling inwardly.

If not for the tanned and refined finger holding it from behind, he would have, maybe, react in some way.

He blinked once, twice and thrice before Aomine sat beside him under the heavy clouds and, simply, dropped the cold thing on his laps, not saying a word and looking for what the redhead was so focused on.

Taiga glanced down unabashed and then looked away without talking too, acting disinterested, but he could not deny the obvious way his heartbeat started anew.

Thus, both remained silent and Aomine quickly started to get annoyed. He sighed and glanced idly at him, raising a condescending eyebrow. What was he even doing? He didn't exactly know, but the redhead was seriously pissing him off at giving the cold shoulder when he actually was here to… to what? Maybe to apologize? Maybe.

Taiga, unaware of the tanned man's eyes on him, buried his chin in his palm while looking in the opposite direction. He was clearly ignoring him, but he could fortunately not fall back into his previous thoughts because he was somewhat too conscious of the latter's presence and even if it was weird, he was grateful.

Aomine couldn't help but find his pouting figure and the fact that he was actually pouting, rather endearing.

"Oî!"

Taiga bit his lips; he seemed to also be a little bit happy? Because why else would Aomine be here and would he give him a can of coke if not for an awkward apologize? But he didn't care, huh! Why would he even care if a stranger apologized or not for being rude.

He didn't give a fuck, yeah? He was not happy he was just satisfied. Yeah, that was it.

"… Oî, you fucking listening or what?"

The redhead looked back at him and blinked sheepishly.

"You are so stupid,"

His expression morphed into an outraged one. "Are you here to fucking insult me, asshole?"

Aomine narrowed his eyes darkly. "Excuse me, moron, but I was talking to you and you dared not to listen! If you didn't know before, it is rather impolite." he pointed an arrogant and rather insulting finger at Taiga as if he was some sort of stupid animal and couldn't understand his words.

Taiga angrily brushed his finger off and hissed. The man was so fucking irritating.

"What? But I didn't hea… hurrgh, whatever," he growled, waving a hand at Aomine because he felt like having a dialogue of the deaf. "Just fucking get the hell out here, I don't need you to be insulting me and I  _don't_  need you to waste your precious time!"

The way Taiga stressed on his last words, it was like he still had not gotten over what happened the day before and he haven't, apparently.

"You should be in another hurry. Don't waste your time." he turned his back on Aomine and dropped his elbows on his knees, running a hand in his reddish hair and unconsciously pushing back his hood.

He was annoyed to be so annoyed by what happened and being so work up over a futile argument was something he wasn't quite used to do. Adding to it the nervousness of Aomine's presence and his lingering gaze he knew was focused on him. And,  _shit_ , why the fuck should he feel nervous? It was too annoying.

Aomine dropped his head, fingers massaging his temple. It was going nowhere. It seemed that the two had a tendency to always argue and fight over stupid things and they hadn't even met longer enough to know each other's name. It was weird because, normally, he never paid so much attention about people and surely didn't care enough to feel guilty or reflect when arguing with them.

And the redhead seemed to be the same too. The two of them seemed so similar. Maybe that was the reason why they only argued and also why he couldn't help but care and pay attention. Well, it was not so bad and the guy was good at basketball.

"Oî, listen!" Aomine intertwined his fingers on his laps and looked up to the cold and dark sky. "I didn't come here to insult you, o-?"

"So why did you come?"

"Oî, shut up and listen, moron!"

"You are insulting me again, stop calling me a moron, moron!"

Aomine deadpanned him because the fucker understood nothing. Or if he did, he really was a fucker for playing with Aomine when he actually cared enough to apologize.

"I am trying to apologize here, triple moron, so shut the hell up and hear me out!" he barked out and it silenced him. At least, if his voice didn't, the thing he said and already regretted did.

Taiga was rather bemused. He stared at him in disbelief and silence. Aomine cursed low in his throat because he hated feeling weak and for him, apologizing was the same as kneeling. And, why was he even doing it? Why for such a moron to begin with?

His shifty eyes avoided the redhead's and the latter only but stared at him.

The embarrassed man in front of him (he actually fucking knew how to be embarrassed, wow); the arrogant and overly confident, but amazing man he played with; the annoying man he met yesterday; they were all a little bit different, but they were all him and they were also so charming and he should feel damned to find a guy with such a shitty personality charming, but he did and it didn't feel wrong.

"Wh-what the fuck are you grinning like that, stupid?" Aomine's eyebrows were twitching and Taiga told himself that he liked the feeling of mocking him for once.

"Actually, you are really pretty stupid on your own, are not you?" Taiga grinned widely and he was vaguely aware of the way his chest felt all warm and fuzzy, but not to the tiny tint of pink on his cheeks when Aomine smirked back at him.

"You. Little. Piece. Of shit." Aomine drawled huskily and Taiga only laughed because he was not scary at all. The tanned man tried to take the can from his laps, but he noticed the glint in his beautiful navy blue eyes and acted faster.

"Asshole! Give me back my can."

"No, it is mine, you gave it to me."

Aomine hissed and feeling a bigger threat, Taiga stood up to avoid any attack, but then, Aomine firmly grabbed his wrist. "Oî, oî, where do you think you are going?"

"Oww, asshole, it hur-!"

"Giv-"

Both were silenced by a thunderbolt. They slowly looked up to the rainy sky and were shocked to see that it was raining, already.

Aomine released his wrist, thumb resting a little too long on his fair skin and it was not strange, but was a man's skin supposed to be so,  _smooth_?

"Humm," Taiga cleared his throat and Aomine looked at him. He was rubbing his nape awkwardly. "Well, thank you?" he added, swinging the can in both hands with an uncertain look on his face.

"Yeah," Aomine waved him off and buried his hands in his pocket, glancing around them.

"Okay, then," Taiga grinned when their eyes met. "I should be going now."

It was strange how his smile felt so innocent and bright, like the man was an angel or something, (but it was only an example huh? Aomine was not thinking of him like that, totally not, ok?) but he was also able to wear such a cold and impassible expression like the one before, in front of the night club and Aomine felt like something about it was not okay.

Still, he shrugged it off because he didn't want to meddle in the redhead's business. And, something about the refreshing smile of the man made him want to protect it? Yeah, it was strange but not bad.

"Mind coming to my car?" Aomine pointed his thumb behind him.

He wasn't surprised when Taiga only blinked at him because he already knew that he sounded weird. "I mean, huu…" he trailed off, not looking for an excuse, but a valid argument. "It is raining already," he pointed to their already drenched clothes, but Taiga's expression morphed into subtle rejection like that was not bothering him to the least.

"And I have free burgers." He exclaimed as a last attempt, pushing his wet hair to the back with an inward sigh. Seriously, what was all this?

"B-burgers?" Taiga peered into his face, tilting his head to the side like Aomine was a strange new breed. "Which?" he asked, suddenly really interested in the proposal.

"Huh, Teriyaki?"

"How many?"

"Geez, does that matter? A lot, ok? You in or not?" Aomine frowned, waiting for the final decision. Taiga pushed his lips further like being in deep thought and the answer Aomine was waiting for came in the form of a low rumbling.

"Hah!" Taiga jolted with wide eyes and then, rubbed his nape again, face flushed with embarrassment and shifty eyes.

 _Is he serious?_  Aomine thought inwardly.

"I-I guess I can, hum, come until the rain, hum, stop?" he muttered, barely audible. And, Aomine didn't like at all how his mind kept reminding him of  _'cute'_ as he observed Taiga.

Well, cute or not, he quickly regretted it when the guy started swallowing his burgers as if it was nothing and actually dared to ask for more when he finished them all.

Aomine was so shocked he didn't even try to stop him. He just kept staring as the redhead engulfed them in his mouth like a squirrel, beaming with joy any time his hand reached for another one and if it was not an interesting and also scaring sight, Aomine didn't know what to think.

"What?" he innocently asked the driver when the latter kept staring at him with parting lips.

"You ate them all." Aomine muttered calmly, like he was not angry or boiling inside, hands on his wheel as Taiga was comfortably installed on the passenger seat.

"Huh, yeah?"

"And you didn't wonder why I have so much in the first time?"

"Hugh, so much? It was not nearly enough, I am still hungry. And, Teriyaki are not good enough."

Aomine dropped his head on the wheel, hands grabbing it as tightly as he wanted to strangle the guy. "No one ever taught you to think about other?" he tilted his head to the side to peer at him.

"Ah," Taiga chuckled, tongue running on his lips to clean them. "Sorry, I thought you bought them for me."

"As if! Why would I do that?"

Taiga shrugged, creasing the bag and throwing it playfully at Aomine, ignoring the latter's protest. "You wanted to apologize so badly, didn't you?"

Aomine groaned, rolling his eyes without moving an inch in his comfortable position on his wheel. "I so fucking regret this." He sighed and Taiga slid in his seat with a smile, putting his head back on it, but as their eyes locked, his smile slowly faded.

"You do?"

The question was both serious and playful, but none laughed at it, instead both remained silent and kept looking at each other until Aomine, once again, talked.

"What is your name?"

"Ha, I thought you would never ask." He scoffed, folding his arms on his chest.

Aomine rolled his eyes. "Well, sorry, but you didn't either."

"Ah, true."

"So?"

"What?"

"Your name, moron."

"Taiga, moron."

"I don't think we are close enough to go on a first name basis."

"What if I say we are?"

"I don't think it is a good idea."

"It is not, indeed."

"Hah? If you know it then wh-?"

"What is your name?"

"Huh? Aomine."

"Aomine, huh?"

"Yeah… you deaf?"

"Aomine."

"Huh?"

"Aomine?"

"What the fuck, T-Taiga?"

Taiga burst out laughing, mischief glinting in his eyes as he smiled gently at Aomine. Yeah, now he knew his name and it felt good to call him, to call him by a real name and to be called by a name, not a nickname or a title of honor.

It actually felt really,  _really_ , good.

"Don't be shy." He laughed playfully.

"I am not, bastard! It felt weird." Taiga continued laughing, he rolled his head and threw a glance out of the window, smile lingering as he observed the drop running on the glass.

"It doesn't seem like it will stop soon."

"Yeah," he mumbled, eyelids suddenly a bit heavy.

"Hum, want me to give you a ride home? I can if you are not too far, where do you live?"

Taiga's shoulders suddenly tensed up and Aomine clearly noticed it. The happy and relax atmosphere became slightly heavy. Taiga bitterly recalled that he was not supposed to be so careless and open. Aomine was still a stranger and he was not even supposed to be out alone now.

_I should be going._

"It-it is ok. If you are in a hurry, I will be going then..." He pulled up his hood, smiled at him and proceeded on opening the door. "Thank yo-"

Aomine grabbed his wrist again. "No! It is ok. You can wait here."

Taiga looked down to his wrist and the tanned hand that seemed to love resting on his skin and then back to Aomine. The tanned man had his eyes narrowed and his gaze piercing onto Taiga's skull.

He should, but he didn't want.

"O-ok!" he slid back in the seat.

"Ok," Aomine mused back, letting go of his wrist and looking ahead of him. 

Taiga looked back at his window, hand grabbing his own wrist and heart racing.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter not revised yet. 
> 
> Thank you very much for kudos and comments. It gave me enough strength not to sleep two days in a row to write while keeping with my exams lmfao.

_"Well, I think that I should really be going now," Taiga chuckled frantically, shaking his head in joyful disbelief because, seriously, Aomine's lame-ass jokes were the best and the guy was not even doing it on purpose. He carefully rolled up his sleeves, smiling eyes mischievously looking at Aomine before he stretched with a groan. His body felt numb after all the time he remained frozen in the very same position, not doing anything except listening to Aomine and laughing his ass off._

_"Yeah, seems about time!" Aomine agreed grumpily, like he was so waiting for the moment, but there was some hint of mirth in his voice that he was unable and unwilling to hide. Taiga only but, sneered at him, lifting the corner of his upper lip and showing him invisible fang he seemed to be proud of. Aomine laughed at his gesture, claiming loud and clear how stupid he looked like and then, tried to make him swallow the creased bag of burgers because, in his point of view, it would fit perfectly._

_"What the fuck do you think you are doing?" Taiga moved from his comfortable spot in the crook of the seat and pushed his back into the car's door, gently kicking Aomine's invading body away from him with his feet as his hands moved fast to protect his mouth._

_"Pay back!" Aomine admitted matter-of-factly, a lopsided grin tugging his sinful lips. Taiga's fingers roughly pressed into his own cheeks. Aomine had this dark and devilish glint in his midnight blue eyes that made him shiver with a mix of anxiety and excitement. "D-don't you fucking come near me!" he hissed, eyes widening as Aomine did anything, but listen and successfully strap up his agitated legs._

_"Ao… I swear don't yo- Gyaaaaaa!"_

_"Shut up, stupid" Aomine barked out as he wholeheartedly fed him, grinning like a fool._

_"You like to eat, don't you?" Taiga was making these little and funny sounds as he tried his best to put a fight and get out of Aomine's grip, while being unable to speak normally – or in his case, to yell normally - and the latter found himself grinning even more. He so fucking deserved it for eating his food like a troll and mocking him._

_"Ao-"_

_"Shu-"_

_Both suddenly jolted and froze when a ringtone abruptly echoed inside the car._

_Their gaze kept locked with their faces only an inch from each other and their expression shocked in a sort of mutual surprise._

_Aomine was fast to recover, though. He cursed lowly and clicked his tongue, dropping himself straight into his seat, a little embarrassed and confused by the childish act he was putting just a few seconds ago._

_Taiga didn't have it this way. He looked up expectantly at him, narrowing his eyes to the look of disturbance on his face. "Something wrong?" he inquired, hearing too late the inner voice of 'mind your own business' normally always mastering in successfully shutting him up. Seemed like it didn't work with Aomine._

_Aomine briefly glanced at him from the corner of his eyes and then shook his head, soon looking for his phone in his pocket. "No, I just, I need to go too."_

_Taiga nodded, sitting straight in his own seat. He was ready to go after all. "Yeah, ok." He opened the door and stepped outside, slamming. He stooped over the window, a conceited smile on his lips. "Don't kill yourself on the road."_

_"Fuck you!" Aomine frowned, tearing his gaze from his phone to glare heatedly at him with a wince._

_"Haha, yeah, me too!" he snorted, shrugging as a matter of fact when the guy gave him a pointed look. He patted the car and stood up, heading his way along the roadway. He put his hood back in place and his hands in his pocket, shoulder being slowly lifted as he breathed in deeply the heavy air outside._

_His legs were moving so slowly, like they didn't want to, as if he was unconsciously waiting for a last thing._

_"Hey!" Aomine suddenly called out. He played the deaf ear and continued walking despite the knowing smile in his eyes._

_"Moron!"_

_He finally stopped and turned around, a half frustrated and half expectant scowl on his face._

_"Took you long enough," the tanned man chuckled. He was standing through the half-open door of his car, one elbow on the door and the other leaning on the car itself._

_"What do you want again?" he growled hotly, but there was no anger in his eyes._

_"Dunno," Aomine shrugged, disinterested and unaffected by the glare directed at him. Taiga suppressed the need to face-palm. "I was just wondering,"_

_"What?" Taiga pressed annoyingly._

_"If you would mind meeting from time to time for one-on-one? You will never beat me though, but you can still try." Aomine scoffed, raising an eyebrow with a smug look on his face._

_Taiga initially looked bemused. He remained silent, taken off guard by the proposal, lips slightly parting for anything, but words and eyes wide open. He was surpri –no, shocked- because it was surely not what he had been waiting for. But then again, what was he waiting for?_

_He didn't know. But it was not for that, not for… wait, it was like making plan, no?_

_His heart skipped, but when his mind caught the last few words, he felt like hitting him._

_"Hmm?" Aomine inquired through his nostrils, loud enough to remind the guy that the question obviously asked for an answer._

_Well, it is just making plans then, so relax._

_"Guh," he waved his hand off, feigning utter disgust, a bit too much, and averted his eyes, the gesture awkward even for him. "Whatever," He added, thinking he would really mind because no he was not so free nor was he a mere citizen who could afford to live as one even if he was doing it already and even if it didn't let him indifferent. "But d-don't count too much on it, ok?" it was his way of politely saying no because, really, he did mind._

_Aomine chuckled again and Taiga looked back at him._

_"Okay," he simply accepted while shrugging and then, his smug look melted into a genuine and delightful smile like Taiga's behavior was the funniest thing in the world._

_And it left Taiga in some sort of weird daze and his heart fluttered and his lips moved on their own. "I don't mind."_

_"Huh?"_

_"I don't mind. I will come. From time to time, is not it?"_

_"Huuh, Yeah," he answered sheepishly, but soon he was chuckling again and Taiga didn't mind. Hell, he kind of even loved it._

_"Then I will come."_

_"Okay, moron, see you then," Aomine chuckled one last time in front of him, shaking his head in the same of joyful disbelief Taiga himself was because of him. He went back into his car and, in a blink, he was gone, but Taiga didn't move, not immediately._

A wicked fist fled right near his face, missing his flesh by nonexistent centimeter, piercing fiercely through the air near his left ear and its force blew him away. Taiga tightly squinted his eyes shut and protected his face with crossed arms as he waddled back by few steps.

He breathed out a surprised yelp and sloppily managed to regain his balance. He opened his eyes again, but Nana suddenly disappeared from his blurred vision and in a matter of second he was sent flying into the air like a feather as the man spun gracefully on himself and swept his feet from the floor with only one of his.

Taiga landed violently on the floor, a loud thud resonated as his head collided first thing with the material. He hissed through clenched teeth and arched his body before curling into a ball and tightly grabbing his nape. The pain edged its way into his body from his nape to his spine and he was sure he was going to die from it.

Someone applauded in the room, not too far, but the sound appeared very distant to his buzzing ears. His opponent quickly straightened himself and approached him. "Oî, boss," he asked timidly, peering onto Taiga's face and stretching a hand to help him.

"Are you okay?" the redhead kept moaning and groaning, writhing in pain on the cold surface as he fought against his tears. _God, it was awful_.

"Boss?" the man sounded more worried as he kneeled near him, soothing the pain by doing circle on Taiga's back. "I-I am sorry."

The redhead panted sharply and finally rolled on his back, a painful wince plastered on his flushed face as he gestured him to stop.

Ivy straightened himself from the wall where he had been watching the whole fight. He walked toward them, hands in his pockets, eyes bored and lips sighing. "Nana, did you wake him up?" he looked down on Taiga and nudged his head with his foot, voice empty from any compassion.

Nana glared at him from where he was still massaging Taiga's back. "O- Oî, baka, what do you think you are doing?"

"I am trying to wake him up!" Ivy didn't stop pushing his head. However, the redhead only, but stared at the ceiling like he was hypnotized. "Oî, oî," Nana tried to shove his foot away, growling when Ivy successfully withdrew it and then immediately sent it back. "Stop that, stupid!"

Ivy sighed and turned on his heels. "Well, let's go. It is boring here."

"Huh? W-wai-"

"Let's go I said! We have some things to do."

"Yeah, bu-" Nana glanced from Ivy to Taiga with a look clearly saying he knew he had to go, but didn't want to abandon his boss.

"Let him be, we don't need him for now, not in this state. He will come once he has finished daydreaming."

"Ivy, watches your mouth!"

"Shut up and hurry!"

As his two men left the dojo, Taiga kept his gaze on the ceiling, blinking maniacally. The only thing he was able to move without feeling a piercing pain through his spinal was the tip of his fingers. But, even though it fucking hurt, he was so ok.

_"Okay, moron, see you then,"_

His lips stretched into a toothy grin while his eyes squinted in pain. Yeah, he was so fucking ok. The pain subsisted, but he was happy to feel it. It was proof that he had been daydreaming yeah, but not dreaming. And, it was very different because that meant that everything he recalled in circle was plain real.

A promise. Yeah, it almost sounded like one.

Taiga had not thought too much about why it was disturbing him so much into making him so happy and excited that he would spend his time daydreaming even during a fight.

"It could have been pretty dangerous, though." But it was ok and also pretty normal because he had always been kind of helpless when it came to his love for basketball. And, here, after so many times where he had felt frustrated, lonely and stressed not to be able to play the game he so much liked, come an awesome opponent who kind of promised him to play often with him. His blood couldn't help, but rush madly with excitement and adrenaline in his vein any time he recalled their first match.

"From time to time," he mused lowly, eyelids heavy, but lips still smiling. "I will be able to play with Aomine from time to time." He finally closed his eyes, letting the information sank in him after all this time. Well, he was a basketball idiot after all.

With Aomine he felt lightheaded, free from his demons and worries, totally normal and the thought of meeting him on regular basis made him feel at ease. It was easy to interact with Aomine and even if it was for a short amount of time, it was ok.

It was ok and oh so better than nothing that even if his consciousness kept denying him this idea, he couldn't stop his feral heartbeat nor his resolve to definitely meet up _from time to time_ with the tanned man.

 _What could be wrong with having one normal friend with whom he would be doing normal things for a change? What could be wrong? He would finally be able to play as much as he wanted, so what could be wrong? Nothing, right?_ He had tried to convince himself since the day before.

But he had never been so wrong.

~

"Few of my men went missing, _M. Snake_." The subtle tiny smile behind her words and the way she spat his nickname out of her devilish mouth made him stop in his tract with a subtle shiver. He looked up, reluctant to meet her eyes, but eager to see if she was possibly serious.

The glint in her eyes was every indication of how seriously pissed off she was as she awaited a reaction from him and if not for his people around and some moral restriction upon her, he knew he would be dead by now.

He swallowed a lump in his throat, his unique eyebrows twitching anxiously for a brief moment. Taiga glanced down to the roll of bills between his fingers, slightly shaking it before putting it back in the suitcase full of those same stinging bills that was lying untouched on the middle table.

"Well," Taiga cleared his voice, leaving the edge of the sofa to sit comfortably in its crook. "It is rather unfortunate, isn't it?" he inquired, soon sprawling his arms on the couch, an impassive expression fighting its way on his features.

"Is that so?" she lifted her head, eyes slightly widening as she tried to drink him up in one glance. The gesture enough sent a wave of icy shivers down his spine. "You have nothing to say?" She intertwined her fingers around her knee, smiling oh so dangerously. "Won't you share a secret with your big sister?"

"I am quite sorry, but I know nothing about it. Are you sure they didn't simply, run away?"

"Hopefully for me and not for the culprit, they were my most reliable men."

"How much reliable?"

"The kind of reliable that dies for you."

"Well," the redhead crossed his legs, shrugging a little bit as he threw a glance past his shoulder to meet Nana's eyes. "The only ones we caught lastly were spies, is not it, Nana?"

The man nodded, as impassive and serene as his boss, one hand on his gun in the waistband of his pants and the other grabbing his arm.

Taiga glanced back at her with one raised eyebrow and gave her a knowing look. "I don't think they are the ones you are referring to. After all, your men are reliable, no?"

It was minimal, but he spotted it. Her eyes twitched in displeasure, but it lasted a mere second. She unfolded her legs and started chuckling, slightly bending over and gently clutching her stomach. He raised a questioning eyebrow and if her weird and evil laughter frightened him, he didn't show it.

"Just because my man had your little ass under his shadow doesn't mean I am willing to tolerate your behaviors, Taiga… I am not as idle as him!"

"Father is just plenty good at hea…"

"Father? **Oh, god, please dear, we both know that my husband sees you as anything but a son**." She rolled her eyes, lips stretching into a straight line. It was scaring how fast she was at removing a smile on her lips when she was laughing just a second ago. Very scary.

Taiga didn't talk back, but he understood. Her bodyguards glanced at each other questioningly. They were not eavesdropping, but they kinda get the fact that she shifted from Japanese to English and it was never a good sign. However, there was no way in hell they could touch a single hair of the redhead.

"Well," he found his voice anew, annoyed eyes looking around, but not at her. "I still know nothing."

"I see," she said, getting up as her men immediately rushed to put a thick and furry white coat on her shoulders. "I hope you will do well with those." She said, nodding toward the suitcase on the table. " **Who know what could happen to you if anything happen to them**." She smiled before heading for the door. Taiga followed her, stepping right behind her and coughing a little.

"What?" she inquired.

"You can give father my regards and assure him that everything will be going as planned. Nothing will happen." He assured firmly, staring a hole in her skull, but she only laughed at him.

"I will tell him that his _son_ miss him." she smiled mischievously and turned to put an index on the redhead's lips before he could protest to what she had said. Her fingers caressed his lips and her hand ran to grab his nape and bring his ears closed to her lips.

"I am not going to play the parrot between you. I perfectly know that both of you see each other in my back." She kissed his temple and pulled back. Taiga widened his eyes and opened his lips, but shut them without speaking.

" **I am not willing to play both the deceived wife and the perfect idiot at the same time, Taiga**."

One last cold smile and she took her leave, not waiting for any come back she knew would never come.

Taiga kept glaring at her until he couldn't see her back anymore. "Shit." He mumbled under his breath. She was so far away from the truth, yet he was forced to keep silent and he hated it.

She sat delicately in the back seat of the car, lips stretched into a murderous, but refined pout, index lightly tapping her temple. Her eyes lingered on the device near her, but she had already made her mind.

'Hello?'

"I need your help, Imayoshi."

'Of course, big sister, otherwise why the sudden call?'

"It is not sudden when you were expecting it, or am I wrong?"

'Well, it depends…'

"Whatever. This little son of a bitch is starting to be too much of a nuisance."

'What were you expecting? He is the new boss.'

"Well, new boss or not, everyone has their little flaws."

'I see what you did there. Do you need me to suppress him?'

"No, not now. One step at a time. I want you to find his weakness."

'How about his gang?'

"No, not them. He had surely someone else he deeply cherishes. Find

this person and quickly. I want to hurt him so badly." She hissed, her fingers tightening around the phone.

'I see. Everything you want, big sister.'

"But you must be discreet. I don't want him to see it coming."

'Don't worry. He will never realize.' The man laughed frantically.

"Good. Very good."

 


	6. Chapter 6

Taiga silently fidgeted on the bench, eyes shifting as he prayed for the court to remain as empty as it was, at least until Aomine came, if he was coming that is.

His shoulder sagged in an exaggerated way after the umpteenth time he had jolted and turned away when hearing a noise and thought it was Aomine.  _Maybe he is not coming today_. He chewed on his cheek and looked up to the clear sky, a disappointed hum leaving his nostrils.

He had barely been able to pay attention during the meeting they had this morning, excited and impatient to run to the court. It had not been easy to escape the others' scrutiny or questions, but he was the boss and everyone, except for Ivy, knew their limits.

He felt bad for lying to them and for not listening to Ivy even though he could read their concern on their face, but he kept telling himself that he was not doing anything wrong, that he would be able to remain discreet and safe on his own. After all, he didn't want the moon, just an awesome game with a talented player. Basketball was for him much more than they could ever imagine and now he was able to play it fairly, without danger and with all his might against an incredible opponent. He was beyond himself with joy.

So, he thought one or two lies were harmless. But it was useless if the guy didn't show up. He sighed and drop his head in surrender, slowly reaching for the blue bonnet on his laps as he stretched his numb legs.

_Well it is ok, maybe anoth…_

"Yo!" a sweating tanned man suddenly appeared, orange ball under his armpit and body slightly panting. Taiga's eyes widened and he raised his head in a hurry to meet the sight he was so expecting.  _Finally_ , he sighed even if he couldn't help, but be surprised.

"What?" Aomine inquired rudely, lifting a frowned eyebrow at the intense scrutiny.

"You really did come, didn't you?" he smiled sheepishly, voice a tad teasing and uncertain on why he was so happy.

Aomine's frown deepened and he rolled his eyes, dropping a bag on the bench with a click of his tongue. He seemed annoyed by the doubtful question. "Well, sorry, but it was clear I would be coming and I was the one asking for the meeting." He said matter-of-factly, looking down on the stupid redhead _. Why is he even making such a stupid face?_

"Yes, but we didn't agree on an hour nor a day and,"

"And nothing," Aomine rasped with no room for useless argument. He removed his shirt, putting it near the bag as he started stretching in a grey tank top. "Like I say, I was the one asking and we," he lifted his wrist and briefly glanced down at his watch. "kind of always meet here at the same hour, no?"

Taiga blinked. Always? They met here only two times before, how the hell was that always? He bit his lips to suppress a chuckle. He had no idea if it was right or not, but Aomine seemed rather sure of it. What was he to notice and remember these little detail, a cop? Taiga shook his head and finally chuckled, as he couldn't keep it in here anymore. Like hell such an idiot could be a cop. It would be ridiculous, but he seemed to be very observant. And as Taiga thought of it, the idea of being prudent didn't cross his mind.

"What is that for, moron?" Aomine raised one eyebrow and glared as if he could read his mind. The stupid smile on Taiga's lips was enough to irritate him.

"Hah? I didn't say anything. And, what is that? Burgers? For me?" he leant on his side and easily took the bag. Taiga opened it, but before he could see what was inside, Aomine snapped it from his hand.

"Don't touch that, it is not for you."

"It smells good, what is it?"

"Well, it surely did. But you are, undoubtedly, going to die if you eat it." he put it back on the bench, further from its previous spot to prevent Taiga from taking it again, but not even farther than the redhead's arm's-length.

"That is food, isn't it? Who made it?"

"A friend of mine. But like I said, you are going to die if you eat it."

Taiga rolled his eyes at his last comment and stretched his legs. "How come, you have friends?"

Aomine sneered darkly and kicked him very lightly in his stretched leg. "Well, yes, I do have friends, stupid!"

"And they made you food, you don't know how to cook…?"

Aomine sighed and deadpanned him. "First, I know how to! Second, I can't because I don't have time and third, what are you, a detective?"

Once again, Taiga ignored his last comment and leant on his knees. "You seem to have enough time to play with me though," he teased, eyes waiting expectantly for his comment to irk or embarrass the tanned man.

"What?" Aomine bounced his ball and headed to the court's center, unaffected. "You would have preferred that I didn't come? I am not going to stand you up when I was the one asking for this… and surely not for poisoned food." Aomine mumbled the last part as he turned around to make a shot. He was sorry for Satsuki after all the effort she put into it, but he was so not going to treat it as real food. "Well, I did tell her it was not necessary." He added as a way to relieve his conscience despite the 'Dai-chan needs to eat proper food, I am worried about your diet.' Piercing through the guilty him.

Taiga remained silent during his low monologue. He was taken aback by his words and it left him staring at Aomine's broad and muscular back with an oblivious grin on his lips. "Hmm," was the only immediate response as he stood up.

He trotted behind Aomine's, hands in his pocket and smug look on his face. "How cute of you," he scoffed.

"What did you say, bastard?" Aomine quickly spun his head at him, not looking as he made an angry shout that went smoothly in. He took back the ball and, glaring at him, threw it harder than necessary in his direction. Taiga managed to catch it before it wiped his face away off. "Careful, will you?"

"Shut up!" Aomine pointed his position with an angry finger. "And bring your stupid ass here!"

"Hmmm, demanding are not you?" Taiga laughed as Aomine's eyes widened with surprise and then, with anger and rage; but not to the way the man dashed toward him with a murderous aura. He had nearly the time to run for his life. The ball was forgotten for a long moment and by the time they came back to it, they were already half exhausted.

 _Gosh, what are we, some children or something?_  He chuckled to himself as they got on the court and into position to finally play a game, sweaty tanned face grinning at him from their childish fight he was too proud he had won.

"I am going to kick your ass,  _Aomine_!" Taiga purred almost affectively, eyes fixed on the gorgeous expression of deep focus now displayed on Aomine's features.

"Yeah," Aomine growled impatiently, moving into a defending position, staring at him like he was his favorite prey. "Come at me with all you have, Taiga!"

Even somewhere near their twentieth round or something, the redhead was still so excited and full of adrenaline that he felt high. The only thing that mattered, the only thing he could focus on was Aomine and nothing else. The guy was so fucking amazing, moving with speed and such fluidity Taiga thought he was gonna lose his head while running after him and trying to block him.

He was eying him in a total non-obvious awe, but at the same time his eyes were flashing with challenge and determination. A similar grin on their face. Aomine's was scarier and breathtaking when he suddenly widened his eyes and launched himself at the redhead like a feline, maneuvering the ball in his hands like he was born with the fucking thing.

Taiga quickly caught his breath and took some steps back. He bent his knees and stretched his arms widely at his opponent, unaffected in front of the on coming beast. Aomine was almost there and he sagged even more, gathering all the force in his legs as Aomine suddenly stopped and pulled back in his same fluid and fast movement, and then threw one of his amazing, but nonetheless despicable formless shot.

Taiga's smile widened. He was so fucking waiting for this. He had been able to read some of Aomine's movements by now. The redhead suddenly jumped with all his might, like he was going to reach the sky, yelling his rage with ultimate determination.

As his middle finger successfully, but slightly brushed against the rough material of the ball, deflecting it from his original path, he grinned widely and barked a growl of satisfaction.

It was minimal, but he had still touched it and his eyes immediately fell down on a scandalized tanned man. He shouted him a satisfied grin, but it quickly faded when he noticed that the look on Aomine's face was not annoyance, but shock.

Aomine stretched a hand at him as if he wanted to catch and pulled the redhead toward him, but the latter was too far away and too high. Taiga understood that something was off when he started falling down headfirst. However, it was too late.

When he landed on the concrete he could have sworn he saw stars this time. He was unable to cry or even moan, he remained strangely silent as his limbs dropped lifelessly beside him. Aomine rushed to his side and bend over him, a grimace on his face. "O-Oi, you okay? Taiga?" his voice seemed huskier than usual and his eyes strangely gentle.

Taiga sheepishly blinked at him, but still it couldn't be any indication that he was still alive. Aomine was not going to take so little as a proof, not when he was sure he saw Taiga's pupils disappearing as he blinked endlessly.

"Taiga! Say something, will you?"

The redhead could hear his ragging heartbeat, well he thought it was his heartbeat, but it could also be the sound of his brain rolling up and down in his cranium. Seriously, was it even fair? Two times, dammit.

"I am fine, I think." He grabbed onto the hand stretched at him and Aomine yanked him on his feet. Maybe a bit too hard because Taiga gently collided with him in a " _huff_ " before dropping his head in the man's neck while leaning onto him, a courtesy he wouldn't have allowed himself in normal circumstance of course. But Aomine didn't protest and didn't seem to mind too. He was too focused on making sure the guy was not going to die on him.

A tanned hand slipped through dark-red locks to check for the abused area. Taiga grabbed onto him and hissed sharply when Aomine found and tried to massage it, unintentionally inhaling what seemed to be a mix of Aomine's sweat and his cologne. But it was not at all unpleasant.

"Well," Aomine sighed in relief, his hot breath tingling Taiga's skin on his neck and he shivered. He nonetheless tried to mask it as he could because he was not expecting it. "I don't think it is too bad. You will just have a little bump, maybe…"

"… Or amnesia," he mumbled into Aomine's tank top, like a child trying to pout for missing a rare occasion, nose lingering a little too much in the scent and eyelids slowly dropping. "It fucking hurt..."

Aomine shook his head, shoulders trembling as his hands grabbed Taiga's shoulders. When the redhead understood -a bit too late due to his reluctance to pull apart from him- what was happening, he eventually pushed Aomine away and glared at him. The abrupt movement made his head throb more painfully, but he didn't care, even with a wince he kept glaring at Aomine.

"Y-you are so stupid! God damnit, you should have seen your face, oh my fucking god, Taiga, I swear…" Aomine bent over, clutching his stomach in some almost painful laugher he tried to keep in. His voice was suddenly so husky and so high, Taiga turned around to make sure no one was here except from them as if they could understand or would laugh at him too.

He started blushing, stuttering some incoherent words that only add to Aomine's laughter. It was so fucking embarrassing and irritating, but at the same time, like the other day, it made him quite happy to see Aomine laugh his ass off because of him. Still, he was too embarrassed. He tried to hurt Aomine, whether to shut him up or to make him feel the pain he was feeling. But even in his uncontrollable fit of laughter, Aomine managed to avoid his hit, stumbling over invisible stone, but not falling, at least not like him.

He should have except it. He really should have. Aomine was a jerk and Taiga made sure to tell him as much.

~

Taiga let himself fall beside Aomine and threw his head backward, exhaling so deeply his lungs almost burst out of his chest. Aomine scoffed, fingers running into the sweaty locks glued on his forehead.

He had one leg sprawled on the floor, the other bent toward him so that he could lean on his knee with his back leaning against the bench behind them. His gaze was unfocused, but locked on the dim sight ahead of him.

Taiga tilted his head to the side, so that he could peer at his profile not really unobtrusively, but not too obviously.

Aomine exhaled and inhaled calmly, lips frozen into a straight line and eyelids apparently heavy. He was so relaxed that the usual scowl on his face had lessened.

The silence between them was neither heavy nor uncomfortable. Both were too tired to argue and Taiga couldn't help but think that it normally should be the moment for one to ask, hum, more about the other? Yeah, it was definitely.

It didn't have to be something too personal, but he was just thinking, like that, nothing really, while looking at the way the streetlight enlightened the dark complexion of Aomine's skin and made it gleam out of sweat, that he couldn't be bad if he asked him two or three little things about him.

Yet, he knew he couldn't. He was not allowed because he couldn't be able to answer back Aomine's questions and lying was not an option. He hated lying.

But it surely would be ok. Aomine didn't seem the kind to really care, not for a mere acquaintance to say the least. He surely was not interested; after all he was a jerk.

Taiga chuckled drunkenly to himself.  _A hot jerk_. Too bad.

"Who taught you how to play basketball?" if not for Aomine's deep and sluggish voice that reverberated too much in his ears because they were too close –and, really, Aomine's voice was almost surreal- taiga would have sheepishly blinked at him until the sunrise.

"Huh? What?"

"I ask," Aomine turned his head toward him, eyes looking too straightly into Taiga's. "Who taught you how to play?" Taiga blinked a few more times and felt the need to pull a little away from the piercing gaze.

"Uhrg, I dunno, I mean, I don't remember?"

Aomine scoffed, little and tired smile tugging the corner of his lips. He was too tired to even call him name or compliment his intelligence. "Why am not I surprised?"

Taiga glared at him. "Well, you shouldn't have asked, then. A-and why are you caring about that?" he frowned at him before a semblance of epiphany reached him and his lips grinned widely. "Did you finally notice how fucking good I am?"

Aomine shrugged, eyes never leaving the sparkling red orbs. "Not really. Just thinking I could address a little prayer to the one who took his time to teach the dumb shit of you to play ball." He said without any ounce of humor, voice monotone and a little sad?

And, before Taiga could act offended, he pursued his argument, which completely silenced the redhead. "I mean, I have waited for you for so long in the past, I kind off almost gave up. But, I guess it is better late than never so I need to say thank."

Taiga's lips parted, but no words came out. He frowned, shut them close, but soon after opened them again without any words. And, Aomine couldn't help, but chuckle.

"It is ok, don't think too much. You may break something."

"Asshole," he could finally breathe out, still confused. He surely wanted to know more about it, to understand what Aomine meant like that because it was too confusing. But since the latter didn't continue, he didn't feel like asking.

And they remained silent again until they bid each other goodbye with the promise of playing again, but this time with a specific day and hour.

 


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello there, being a long time I know ~ I am sorry for the delay and I am even sorry for this chapter. I am not satisfied at all with it and it is not revised yet like always, but I am so busy with exams lately I can't do anything and at least I can be happy I was able to write one chapter. So really sorry, stress get over my writing. 
> 
> Well, I am trying to give to our two dorks some quality time to know each other better and have fun, I think that was my objective dunno if I got here XD ~ anyway, two things : 
> 
> Kagami is the cutest and Aomine is the eternal teaser!
> 
> So again, thank you very much for reading, for the kudos, for the comments, for the bookmarks, etc, that really get me going and it helps me fight against school so really thanks :3

It had been exactly one week that taiga had started hanging out on a, very, regular basis with Aomine to play ball at their usual little court. It was far away from both their homes, not that they exactly knew that, and it was rather hidden so only a few people and the usual hooligans the redhead wanted to avoid, knew about it. So, it let them plenty of time and occasion to claim it and play like two monkeys from dusk to dawn.

Aomine was a pretty bastard. No comment. But, taiga couldn't quite describe nor understand how fucking good it felt to spend time with him almost every day and to play true basketball like your life depend on it. He was not someone who thought twice, or much when he did it only once. He just accepted it like it came and didn't try considering the whole thing. Yes, he was this kind of person after all, a basketball and oblivious idiot.

So much that when he started thinking about Aomine every time he was off the court and down in his sour moments because of what he did to other in order to protect himself or the band or just to act as a boss; when he started missing him right after they had parted from their usual one-on-one and even went as far as to reduce the time of his so precious sleeping schedule just to remember again and again his whole day with Aomine or the last time he saw him; Taiga never thought ‘ _What the actual fuck?_ '. No, he really and simply just accepted it because for him it kinda made sense even if he didn't think about it deeper.

Aomine was like a savior. He allowed him to forget about his life, the one he didn't hate, but didn't exactly love. He couldn't remember the last time he had a nightmare after meeting Aomine for the first time.

Now they were so used to each other. When they met, they either lost themselves in a sea of adrenaline or either sat so quietly next to each other and contemplated about people passing or Taiga's cooking-skill because yes, he started cooking for both of them under the alibi of repaying Aomine for his teriyaki burgers, or they just fell asleep in Aomine's car when the kids were playing dirty on the court as much as owning it like theirs.

They were particularly comfortable with each other now, not that they had ever been awkward to begin with, but now the alchemy was more than obvious and maybe a little surprising.

“God, I thought I was gonna die!” Kagami interjected, panting harshly with one hand tightly gripping his shirt and the other trembling alongside his body as an expression of surprised mix with fear was now displayed on his features.

Aomine bent over his knees and his whole body started shaking madly. He had done his best to keep it in him, but now it was too much. The bastard didn't stop looking like he had just been thrown out of an airplane directly into the lake Victoria and when he remembered, because he was never gonna forget it, never ever, why exactly his pal was in such state, it made everything thousand times worse.

“Ahomine, what are you doing?” taiga fumed, face red and brows knitted together in a weird half scared yet half angry stare. Aomine waved his hand at him without looking, another hand clutching painfully at his stomach as he bit onto his lips to muffle his laugh. He still didn't want to laugh, but the _“…Aomine, I beg you, please save me! Don’t let it touch me!!”_ whine he had received from Taiga when they encountered a puppy –and yes, fuck, such a small dog you could think it left its mother's tummy too early- on the street and that it started trolling toward them was so epic, he just couldn't.

“Bwawaaawawawa!!”

“OMG! Ahomine, you asshole, you are laughing at me aren't you!!!!” it was more a matter of fact than a question. Taiga's cheeks couldn't have got any redder, except that they did when Aomine finally straightened himself to look at him with tears in the corner of his eyes. The laughter was so violent he was unable to say any coherent words to his redhead friend and he could tell Taiga was getting more upset –and also embarrassed- with the seconds.

He was shaking like a volcano, red like its larva and full with anger and fury, but he was all in the same fucking cute because such a gigantic and kind idiot being all teary and scared from seeing a dog and red with frustration from being mocked at, couldn't be anything else. Yet, Aomine was vaguely aware of the fact that he had and would certainly never ever call any other guy cute. It was just because it was Taiga and he didn't know why. Not that it was much of a preoccupation for him at the moment.

“I-I-I am never talking to you again!” Taiga spluttered and balled his fist before hitting his shoulder, shoving him away while stomping toward the car. He could have walked away or take a cab to go home if he wanted to, but pouting in the car of the man he didn't want to talk to was fucking genius. And, yeah, he was pouting again, and Aomine loved it when he riled him enough to put him in such state.

He panted and pivoted on his heels, slowly, but surely catching his breath as the pain he got from Taiga's hit lessened considerably his laughter.

At first they were here to buy painkiller for him at the pharmacy. He just had a bad encounter with a violent thief the day before and the very same shoulder Taiga had just hit had been damaged to some point. He didn't consult and just put some cream on it, courtesy of Momoi, even though she told him to use it if he got burnt while cooking –apparently, it was her specialty. It was while going out of the pharmacy that little puppy wanted to say hi and then Aomine discovered that Kagami was, cutely, afraid of dogs.

The way he had nearly jumped on Aomine, tightly gripping on to him, rubbing and burying his face into his back as he sought for protection, it gave him a feeling of contentment. Yeah, he was able to show Taiga how manly and totally fearless he was when he had just seen the redhead in his weakest point, and it was one way to go to never stop teasing him. But, there was also a slight, yet undefined feeling of satisfaction to the fact that he was the one Taiga chose to protect him even if it was something fully natural and fully insignificant as a behavior.

It was almost the same than what he felt when Taiga cooked especially for him, pretending to have pity on him and his bad diet.

Aomine slowly walked to the car, the time to calm down and stop his laugher. Gosh, he definitely never laughed so hard than when he was with the redhead. The car's door were locked, a sulking and rather unhappy Taiga on his passenger seat, ignoring him and his attempt to open the door or the one to make him understand that he eventually wanted to enter his car.

Despite the situation, he couldn't help, but chuckle mockingly at Taiga's sulking-profile and the redhead chose this moment to turn toward him. Aomine saw how his expression darkened even more.

“Ah, my bad, my bad, Taiga, plea-please I am sorry ok? Unlock the door for me!” he pleaded, knocking at Taiga's window, a smile too bright to be apologetic on his lips. Taiga bloodily glared at him and turned his head in another direction, so angrily Aomine was sure he had made his point and was going to break his neck. It only made him laugh harder.

“Come on, Taiga,” he whined, manly of course, holding on to his right arm. “Let me in so that I can take my pills, it hurts!!” at this plea he saw Taiga's shoulder slouching a little. The redhead looked at his laps and found the bag with the medicine in it. Oh, yes, he was the one who grabbed it while Aomine started looking for his purse when they reached the cashier. Still, he was not opening; he was surely not going to forgive him just because he was hurt.

 _If even a little quickly I could_ … he threw a glance at Aomine, still pleading grossly under the bright sun, and a little bit of his thought may have been displayed on his face because Aomine's eyes widened slightly and he shook his head. “Uh huh, Taiga!!”

“Shut up!” he hissed, frowning even deeply. “I am not opening, asshole!!”

“Geez, I said I was sorry, didn't I? Stop being a bitch.”

“You, fucktard, don't call me a bitch, asshole!”

“Yeah, yeah, Mr.PleaseSaveMeIAmAfraidOfDog!” he sneered.

“FUCK YOU!”

Aomine laughed his ass off at this one. And, the pain in his shoulder worsened. He winced, slightly groaning as he unconsciously reached for his arm. Kagami saw it, grumbled for being weak when the other was in pain and unlocked the car.

“Dumbass, bring your ass back here so we can go!!” he fumed, staring ahead of him with an angry scowl. “And you can take your damn medicine.” He mumbled inaudibly under his breath, eyes shifting.

“Aye, Aye, captain!!” Aomine complied obediently without biting anything back, but as soon as he sat in the car he pulled out a cocky grin on his lips while starting the car.

Taiga felt his lingering glance on him and it only served to annoy him more. “What?” he snapped, not looking at him.

“The only one who can lock me out of my car is me…” he said, wiggling his eyebrows as soon as the redhead finally turned his way.

“OMG, that is soooooo lame Ahomine!!!!”

This time it was Taiga's turned to burst out laughing and Aomine followed wholeheartedly.

The car disappeared from the parking lot of the drugstore, soon after that, a small light blue haired man straightened himself in his own car and pressed the dial button of his phone.

‘Hello?'

“Imayoshi-san,”

‘Yes! I am listening.'

 ~

They reached the court some minutes later, apparently a bit too late because it was already used, but they didn't seem to really mind. After all Taiga didn't really want to play because Aomine was hurt and Aomine, of course, was not so eager to play because the pain was not entirely gone. So they just looked at each and shrugged nonchalantly, settling to watch the kids play while eating.

“Wow, this kid is friggin good!”

“Boullssit, i ain'tss any gowd ‘an thi one in all rewd!”

“What?” Aomine looked at him in confusion and annoyance. He quickly understood why the idiot was unable to speak coherently. But, it took him five more minutes to fall from his shock _. I will never get used to this._

Taiga was stuffing his mouth with croquettes, barely chewing the ones already in here. At least it was Aomine's impression while looking at him from his spot. It was impressive, but also fucking baffling. _No, never_.

Most of the time, Aomine was too focused on the food to pay attention to his, shitty, eating habit because, fuck, the food was so heavenly good he often couldn't hold the tears threatening to roll from the corner of his eyes the second he took the first bite.

He still couldn't believe a guy like Taiga could cook and cook so perfectly that he, another man, actually wanted to cry at his food. It was something he deeply respected Taiga for. It was true that he said he knew how to cook himself, but well, if instant noodles and fried eggs were balanced meals, then yes he knew perfectly well how to cook.

Taiga, though, was in another league. He had not again eat anything nearly as good as these simple and so well-cooked little croquettes.

But… but… Kagami eating -and the amount of food he was actually eating- was a sight killing everything else.

“Dude, seriously, calm down, will you? You'll choke…” he cringed, reaching for a can of beer.

Kagami threw him a very innocent and sheepish glance from the corner of his eyes before swallowing all the food poking from inside his cheeks. It was really distressing. _He should have been named after a squirrel. What tiger._

The redhead glanced at Aomine’s finished share of croquette and looked up at him, grinning with a suspicious look in his eyes. “I am definitely not gonna give you any of mine,” he said, waving one graceful and tasty piece of croquette just in front of Aomine.

“The fuck! When did I ask you to….?”

“No and no!”

“Shut up, I don't want it anyway!” Aomine gritted his teeth and shoved his hand away, but it kept coming back and he kept shoving it away again.

“Yeah? Your lips say otherwise.”

Aomine leant back and stopped, eying him cautiously before smirking.

“What?” Taiga demanded.

“You sure you properly understand them?”

“Huh?” before Taiga could understand what he implied, Aomine had grabbed his wrist and pulled it toward him so that he could bite into the piece of food and stole it away. The redhead watched, shocked, as he did just so –his lips and teeth oddly brushing against his fingers- and swallowed, even going to the extent of licking his lips teasingly.

“Y-you bastard!!!” Taiga spluttered shamefully, staring with wide eyes at him. He held his breath and strongly pulled out his hand from the tanned man’s grip, bending over and feigning pain in order to hide the wave of heat assaulting his face.  

~

Aomine's tongue fell lifelessly in the corner of his mouth, threatening only so slightly to take a run for the outside world. There was a stain of wet and filthy drool right where his mouth –while lying on his stomach in the couch- was wide open. One of his hand was on the floor of his living room and the other one was trapped somewhere between his own body and the material on which he was sprawled. His pants hung low on his hips, revealing a small portion of chocolate-flavor-sweet-ass for the pleasure of all the living being in the apartment.

Momoi brushed a strand of short pink hair behind her ear and sighed in distaste.

“What a disgraceful sight…” she mumbled, shaking her head. “Please, don't look Shizumi, you have so much more to live yet.” She covered the girl's eyes and forehead with her refined hand and it made her giggled discreetly as if she understood there was someone sleeping in there. _Maybe she does_. Momoi thought while dropping her gaze into the girl's one. She was so perceptive for his age and the woman took pride in thinking it was thanks to her genes.

Aomine woke up like two hours later, sitting up abruptly, looking from right to left and wondering why the fuck the lights in his whole apartment and the TV were on. He grumbled when he noticed Momoi sitting in another couch, deeply focused on a movie, her baby sleeping in her arms. He, then, remembered something.

“Shit… Satsuki, you are already here?”

“Dai-chan, it is past midnight…” she answered unabashed, not even looking at him.

“Ah, sorry, I kinda…”

“Forgot? I thought so. You know, there is something called phone that you should keep close to you so that you could answer when people call!” she added, finally turning his way and his eyes widened as he started looking around for his said phone. He stood and walked to his room when he didn't find it in the crook of the couch.

She heard him stumbling over things, groaning and cursing loudly in the room, his mind still too numb with sleepiness to notice all the furniture.

“What the fuck Satsuki?” Aomine dead-panned as he came back, his brows furrowed when he looked at the screen with all her missed calls.

“Dai-chan, language!”

“Well,” he waved off, heading for the kitchen. “Why do you even call when you have a spare key?”

“I wanted to tell you that we were going to be late because this little girl here” she kissed her baby's forehead and chuckled when the girl slightly stretched and sighed in her sleep. “Didn't want to let go of one of her friend's dog. But, then, I thought that maybe you were dead or something and I rushed here, seriously Dai-chan, you are a… Oi, are you listening to me?” she squinted her eyes at the tanned man standing near the fridge, a carton of milk in the hand, his phone in the other, chuckling warmly at whatever message he had received and she found it very out of character of her usual Ahomine-kun.

But, Aomine was oblivious to it and kept of scrolling on his phone and she wanted so damn much to know who was the luckiest person who managed to make him smile like that, if not even a little bit, but so genuinely.

It didn't seem like something big, but it put her at ease because maybe, he was on his way to find someone who could bring true happiness to him or maybe she was just overthinking it, but she was just like that and she wanted the best for him. so, she didn’t insist and left him with his phone.

 

 

22:33

From: PleaseSaveMeIAmAfraidOfDog

H-how is yr shoulder?

 

00:45

To: PleaseSaveMeIAmAfraidOfDog

Good. I mean, dn’t worry, will be able to save you next time too. anytime u want.

 

00:47

From: PleaseSaveMeIAmAfraidOfDog

Whut? Sav me? from whut?

 

00:49

From: PleaseSaveMeIAmAfraidOfDog

Ooh fck u!!!!!!

 

00:49

To: PleaseSaveMeIAmAfraidOfDog

Lol and yur fingers?

 

00:49

From: PleaseSaveMeIAmAfraidOfDog

Die Ahomine!!!!!!

 

00:50

To: PleaseSaveMeIAmAfraidOfDog

Lol worth it

 

00:51

From: PleaseSaveMeIAmAfraidOfDog

You are so… well, tak car nd gud night, Ahoo

 

00:53

To: PleaseSaveMeIAmAfraidOfDog

Yea’ thx

nigh’ lol


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, hello there ~ again I need to thank you guys for the support, the comments and the following, thank you very much (づ￣ ³￣)づ ~ you guys are the best for me.
> 
> With this chapter we are starting real business now. Hehehehe ~ I need to warn you guys about some little shocking content in this chapter, so make sure you are ok with people talking a little bit about corpse and torture before starting this one. 
> 
> And also as a summary, I just have to say that Aomine acknowledges that he is a real bastard only when it is about Kagami. So, enjoy it :3 ~
> 
> Not revised yet.

Momoi hurried down the stairs, heading quickly for the exit door of the building when she reached the hallway. Once outside, she took some time to appreciate the chill air, one hand still around the doorknob and another pushing a slight and pink strand of hair behind her ear.

Autumn was slowly, but surely making its way toward big sister Winter, but the heavy clouds of the week were still clearly visible in the sky. It was a moody atmosphere to go out for business, but she had to do it anyway and fast if she didn't want to be drenched to her bones the moment she would get off her car.

She climbed down the stairs at the entrance; smiling a little when she, out of the blue, just remembered the crazy night she had with her best friend while celebrating her daughter's first word of ‘ _Mama'_. She was still a little embarrassed of how she cried when she got drunk, but it was totally worth it.

She finally reached her car after walking for quite a bit, silly her for always wanting the safest spot in the parking lot. She slowed down her pace; slightly bending over the red handbag -that perfectly matched her red and white outfit- and opened it to look for her keys.

They were quickly found, as her purse –she wanted to make sure she had it because she was so scatterbrained sometimes. She unlocked her door, humming to herself, ready to go in when suddenly she distinctively noticed something, or maybe someone, moving swiftly in the corner of her eyes. A wave of black and light blue.

She was brisk to swing on her heels in order to catch it, whatever it was, but when she did there was nothing except empty cars all around in the parking.

Momoi lightly tilted her head to the side, softly pushing her lips and frowning in a thoughtful expression. “Maybe I overthought it…” she sighed, shrugging with a smile before finally sitting in her car.

Leaning on the railing, a mug of hot coffee in one hand and a sleeping baby literally drooling on his collarbone in another, Aomine waited for her car to leave the parking before going back into the warm comfort of his apartment. He kissed the well-behaved girl on her temple before putting her into her cradle.

Aomine watched over her, a little longer than he had intended to, given that she was already asleep and there was no need to keep an eye on her or to lull her.

She was so peaceful and innocent, a living masterpiece as beautiful and gracious as her mother. She was the gleam of happiness and settlement of his best friend's life, the fruits of her and her beloved one's endless love. He was not jealous, nor embittered.

Aomine just wished, at times like these, when he remembered how beautiful it could be to have everything, when he remembered that he was getting older each day, that he could, too, fall into a stable and satisfying relationship.

He didn't care if it was with a freak or a liar, an older person or not, a ninja or a geisha and even a woman or a man. Seriously. He just wished he could fall in love wholeheartedly -even if he had to be hurt and betrayed- and experienced the happiness of true love.

He had never known what it was to be truly in love. This kind of love that made Momoi fidgeted on her phone during hours while waiting for a mere text, that kind of love that made her talk days and days about the exact same person whether it was about his flaws or not, this kind of love that made her smile brighter than a one million carats diamond. He wanted to care for someone and someone other than a friend to care for him even more than of his own life.

Yes, he had basketball, but he was only deceiving himself. He wanted to know it, to experience it, to have it so bad it hurt.

_It was way too lonely here._

He poked her pink and chubby cheek, unable to suppress his urge to feel the soft and flawless skin. His fingers then ran to her forehead to brush a strand of rebellious pink hair. She let out a baby-like half grunt half sigh and rolled on her side as a protest to his ministrations.

Aomine chuckled lightly, his lopsided grin hollowing his lips and finally straightened himself before heading for his working room.

There was a lot of crucial work waiting for him. He had no time to pity himself, his failed life was a closed case already.

He settled at his desk and went straight to the matter at hand. He had made a lot of progress with his teammate, but there were still a lot of unanswered questions filling his mind. He needed some peculiar cues, ones that could link him to Snake's gang and that, also, could allow him to infiltrate it. He wouldn't be able to get a hold of this mysterious man with a direct approach. It was nearly impossible to find any piece of information about him, let alone a picture.

“It would be damn too easy,” he grumbled under a frustrated smirk, leaning onto his chair with a file in his hand. “but I wouldn't have it this way.”

Aomine's eyes shifted cautiously when his phone suddenly started ringing on the table. “Yeah?”

‘Aomine-san!'

“Mikki?”

‘I am sorry to bother you already, but Aomine-san has to come right now. Midorima-san…'

“I am on my way!” he cut firmly, excited. He was vaguely aware of Mikkitani breathing out a mocking chuckle right before he ended up the call.

~

Taiga entered his room with a wide yawn, eyes teary and squinted as he almost ripped his mouth apart. He dragged his feet while heading toward the window, his sweatpants wiping the floor. He made his way through the opened window and climbed out of it.

Taiga climbed down the staircase and sit up gently on the left side of a stair, elbows leaning on his knees and lungs sighing slightly. He briefly glanced to his side before stealing the cigarette Ivy was silently lighting for himself. The raven hair man didn't react, he simply turn his attention to the redhead and raised one eyebrow.

Taiga moved it between his fingers and locked it in the middle of his lips, inhaling deeply as soon as it touched them.

Ivy leaned on to his back against the stair behind them. “I thought you stopped,”

“I did.” Was the immediate and gruffly answer he received.

“Then why…?” he intentionally trailed off, both eyebrows raised by now.

Taiga shrugged nonchalantly, eyes too focused on the scenery ahead of him and lips too busy with the cigarette. “Feel like it.”

Ivy squinted his eyes and hummed knowingly in the back of his throat. But he knew better than to stop here. “What is the matter?” he inquired calmly, stealing back his cigarette so the mahogany guy would look at him. Taiga glared at him for that but only shrugged again; less convincing, but more focused this time. “Nothing I think.”

“Was it what the blond bitch told you? Are you scared? It had been a long time ago already.”

“No!” He snapped a bit too harshly than he intended, eyes flashing toward Ivy, but it was just the attention the guy wanted from him. He shook his head and looked down at the passing cars and the few people already outside so early in the morning. “I mean, no, I am not scared. There is no particular reason, I just feel like it.”

Ivy nodded appreciatively. His eyes followed Taiga's a brief moment, studying the expression displayed on his tired features as the redhead lost himself in his thought. He scoffed discreetly; well he didn't even need to because Taiga was too much in his own world.

“You seem in a bright mood recently. Got yourself a woman? It would explain all the sneaking tho'…”

“Huh??”

Taiga turned his head, but his eyes lingered a little bit on a redhead boy and his mother crossing the road. The boy seemed so happy to follow his mother, Taiga couldn't help, but wonder what this kind of happiness felt like. He eventually glanced at Ivy, a questioning expression on his features. The raven-haired man looked straight at him from up close, but it was not intense or bothering enough for him to pull back. Nothing like the kind of intense feeling he got from looking too up close to deep navy blue eyes.

“W-what?” he asked again and blinked a few times, half scolding himself for his internal train of thoughts which led him too far away from the matter at hand and half reflecting on what Ivy just said.

The raven hair man eventually explained himself, his expression soft. “I know you too well lil’ tiger, don't try to lie to me. You have been smiling too much and too brightly for your own good recently and you are way too easy to read. Who is the lucky whore?”

“What the fuck are you talking about? There is no luck, asshole and I don't do whores!!”

“Yeah? So, how did a gang leader supposed to hide in the shadow of his men and cut some wild grass find himself a suitable woman in less than a month? Or did it start long before? What kind of woman is it? Why didn't you tell me about her?”

“Stop talking about woman, that is not all the world is about, you dipshit!!!” Taiga gritted his teeth, glaring at him, but he didn't scare Ivy. It only served to amuse him, that and the unconscious confession he just spat.

“Heh,” Ivy scoffed, leaned back to drink up the whole tiger, a condescending and satisfied expression on his features. “So, it is a man, huh?” more an assertion than a question of course. “That is some balls you finally got here, bro'…”

Taiga gaped at him like a dead fish; eyes wide open and mind going berserk.

How Ivy's words kept holding the color blue for the whole day in the back of his mind remained unknown and also terribly destabilizing.

~

“How did he die?” Aomine asked as Midorima pulled back the sheet over the corpse on the autopsy table.

“He was tortured to death.” The flat voice answered unabashed as even Aomine couldn't yet get a hold of himself after what he had just seen.

“H-how can someone do something like…” Mikkitani was trembling near Aomine, unable to finish her sentence. She tried to stay put but the sight was just too ugly. It was unimaginable for her sanity.

“Mikki, go take some fresh air,” he recommended as their eyes met. She was still in her shocked state so she tried to appear more unaffected in front of him. He knew better.

“Okay?” she wanted to protest at first, but his eyes let no place for discussion. She nodded briefly and hurried outside. Aomine waited until she was totally gone before turning back to Midorima.

“So, what made you think it was Snake's ?”

Midorima eyes slowly left the door to look at Aomine's before readjusting his glasses on his nose.

“Operating mode is the same.”

“Operating mode?” Aomine frowned, leaning on to the table.

Midorima eyed him cautiously before sighing. “So they still are hiding you things. Well, it is not surprising. The less you know, the easier it is to shut you up once you made all the work.”

“Yeah, right,” he acquiesced. He knew the bastards were hiding precious information he simply couldn't gather in one month and not now that Snake was under the Yakuza’s protection. He just didn't give a shit because he was confident, but, well, learning a little bit was not so bad.

“Snake is not only the leader of the gang. He is a serial killer and this,” Midorima showed him the severely disabled corpse. “is how he treated his enemies and the people that betrayed him. A plier to pull out all the teeth and the nails with dexterity; a hammer to break his knuckles, his wrists and his knees; a screw gun for the eyes; a scissor for the ears… We are supposed to show him like that to his family. He had three kids and one is barely ten.” Aomine's eyes widened with horror, it was obvious just seeing the corpse, but listening to it, imagining what he had endured. _Wow_. What kind of fucking devil was this Snake? How could such a man be living freely?

“I will stop here, but I need you to understand that he is very dangerous, Aomine.”

“You want me to change my mind?”

“I don't know. What are you going to do now?”

“Find this bastard and make him pay!” He gritted his teeth in fury, eyes so dark with anger and resolve that Midorima understood he couldn't stop him. “I am going to fucking make him beg for death! I swear!”

“Don't.” Midorima pulled out something from his coat and handed it to him. Aomine eyed it suspiciously before taking it. “What is it?”

“A tiny notebook, it was in a secret pocket of his pants. There is a tone of numbers and information, but there is also a contact he had been seeing very often. I presume he was nosing around Snake’s business and this contact was helping him.”

“A nark, he had a nark inside the gang?”

“Maybe. You tell me.”

Aomine glared at him, but his eyes were full of gratitude, gripping tightly onto the notebook.

“I will.” He assured bloodily. At the same moment, the door was opened. A wavering woman who seemed to have cried during her whole life entered it. Outside, right in front of the door, holding their hands and looking totally lost and worn out, he briefly saw three children waiting.

He couldn't help the burning sting running inside his gut.

~

To say that Aomine's mood was a little under the weather was a statement far away from the truth.

He had been looking outside, staring at the droplet running down his window while being deep in thought. He was not watching the kids playing under the rain like they were going to die if they didn't do it and on top of it enjoying it, actually he had never glanced at them from the very beginning nor at Taiga who kept wondering what on earth was wrong with him. Yet, he didn’t find the courage or the good moment to ask.

Aomine only just grunt to his shameful attempts to make a joke and he had been doing it only for his sake. He barely shrugged to his comments about the kids' play, barely glanced at him when Taiga offered him food, well, barely did anything to interact with the redhead and it was distressing.

Taiga had never seen him in such state, such a sour mood radiating from him. He felt like Aomine totally didn't want to be here and only came because Taiga would be waiting for him and it felt as if Taiga forced him to come.

He dropped his eyes on his laps where his hands were no longer fidgeting and bit the inside of his lips. It was okay, no one was happy and ready to go full force every day, but for some reason it sadden him to be treated like that.

He couldn't ask because it had been on a silent agreement not to ask about the other's life. They didn't really agree to it, but since none of them had ever asked such thing, it remained like that.

He wanted to ask so badly, but he didn't want Aomine to lie to him or to simply dismiss him without any answer. It would be frustrating, but it seemed to be even more frustrating not to do anything.

He sighed and slid into his seat. _Why did you even come?_

“Huh?” Aomine finally turned his way, his eternal and unfriendly scowl plastered on his tanned forehead. _Heh, did I just say that out loud?_

“Stop talking to yourself, dumbass!”

Taiga was surprised, but it didn't last long. “Ah, sorry, I was…”

“Talking to yourself, yeah, I pretty much got it, moron.”

It was Taiga's turn to frown. “Don't call me moron, beside who else would I talk to? You have been simply ignoring me since I came. You are not talking to me.” Taiga pointed out, trying to keep his calm, but maybe his voice just cracked.

Aomine was a bit surprised too. It was not like he didn't notice his own behavior, but maybe he thought it would be ok with Taiga. Well, it was not.

Aomine simply shrugged with obvious disinterest and averted is eyes again. “I just don't feel like it today.” he grunted, seeming totally bored.

Taiga would never be able to explain what or where exactly, but something definitely broke at his words. It stung.

“Y-you,” he swallowed inconspicuously the lump that suddenly formed in his throat. “don't feel like talking to me today…” he simply repeated, more to himself, but it should have sound like a question because Aomine shrugged again, exactly like he didn't give a fuck in the world.

Taiga paused, something that felt like an eternity to the spit of his stomach.

“So, what am I? A grey leather shirt you just don't feel like wearing today?”

Something in his tone or maybe in his words made Aomine turned his way with a surprised expression like there was no way to react like that and it made Taiga wonder why he was still here because he already knew that Aomine was a bastard.

“Just don't ever feel like wearing it again, okay?” it was so bitter Taiga didn't get it himself, he just knew that he had not felt so bad for months or maybe years.

He didn't care it was still raining. He would fucking get out off of here and maybe it would calm his nerve because now it was no good.

Aomine grabbed his wrist and stopped him before he could open it. “Wait, Taiga, what the fuck?”

Taiga didn't move and, of course, didn't turn back to look at him. Aomine noticed how tensed his shoulders were and since he was not turning back to look at him he understood that he had done more than he had ever intended to.

"Oi!!"

“I-I am sorry Tai…”

No reaction.

“I had a bad day at work and… please, I am sorry ok? Don't be mad. I am sorry.” Aomine felt a little hopeless now, Taiga was still not turning to look at him. “Listen, I came because I wanted to see you, I have always fun with you and I was not trying to be mean or anything. You know that I am always like that, always so… me!” he exclaimed before face-palming himself because it was lame as an apology.

“You are an asshole. And, that is lame!”

When he looked up, Taiga had finally turned his way and was glaring at him, but without too much heat, a reluctant smile tugging the corner of his lips. It warmed him up.

Aomine unconsciously squeezed his wrist and it seemed that even Taiga didn't notice.

“Yeah, right!” he chuckled, reassured, pretty okay with accepting shit about him.

“I don't want to put up with that kind of shit.”

"Yeah,"

"I don't like it and I deserve some kind of respect."

"Okay, got it."

"You don't have to tell me the things that happen in your life, I will not ask..." _even though I want to_ "... but if you are not in the mood or you don't want to hang out with me just tell me so because..."

"Hey, yeah, okay," Aomine hushed him, leaning closer with an amused, but genuine smile on his lips. "I am sorry, okay? I like to hang out with you. Always. I was just stupid that is all."

"You are always stupid!" Taiga frowned in a pouting demeanor, not minding the invasion of his personal space.

"Yeah, anything," he nodded stupidly and it made Taiga chuckled, his breath warming Aomine's lips that were way too closed. Aomine's eyes caught the smile in Taiga's and it left him dumbstruck how beautiful and sparkling they were, more than a ruby, more than a reddish sunset.

Taiga slowly lost his smile, his eyes shifting from Aomine's blazing midnight blue to his sinful lips.

"I am sorry," he mouthed nearly on Taiga's lips -because they were so closed to each other- absentmindedly as if it was the only thing on his mind right now that could make sense.

"Yeah?" Taiga inquired, not unconvinced, but breathless as they stared into each other's eyes for a long time.

It felt like centuries. _Gosh_. Taiga felt hot in his stomach and in his chest, burning hot and anxious. It was ridiculous. But he didn’t hate it, hell, he was so entranced by Aomine’s magnetism that he unconsciously inched closer, needing very badly some kind of contact, totally ready to…

Aomine suddenly chuckled weirdly and pulled away, seeming a little offbeat. He sat back straight into his seat and looked ahead of him like any other way -and especially the right side- could be dangerous.

"Wow, there are," he cleared his throat awkwardly. "still at it. That is insane."

Taiga remained frozen longer after him. He only blinked and answered with a rusty voice a "Y-yeah!" before settling in his seat too.

At this moment, Taiga started wondering if he had a heart disease because there was no way a heart could beat so fast if nothing was wrong. _Definitely not_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a feeling some people will cry about the lack of kiss here, or maybe not?  
> Anyway, it is too sudden for that and I was not even supposed to write so much about them in this chap, I got carried away ^^" so sorry for the disappointment.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kagami was able to realize his true feelings but Aomine couldn't pinpoint his own.
> 
> The redhead took some pretty desperate measure in order to solve a problem he had created himself. He kind of overacted, but well they are both idiots ^^".

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh dear Lord ~ It had been such a long time. I am so sorry that I kept this story and made you wait. But I was so busy with my exams and I fell sick because I was overworking, so I was unable to do anything. So, I am really sorry for the wait but now my exams had ended last thursday and before I started my job I have some time to write. 
> 
> Thank you very much for reviewing and liking (づ￣ ³￣)づ ~ I feel a bit rusty with my writing now but please do forgive me for now ^v^.

Half an hour prior to his current disposition, Aomine had unceremoniously stopped his car in the parking lot of the neighboring building before energetically trying to get out of said car with his security belt still on. With some curses and unrefined struggling later, he had climbed up to his apartment only to notice how stupidly clever he had been to let his keys in the car.

“Oh my God, genius!” he had deadpanned incredulously, face-palming himself in the process. He had faced the corridor, hands on his hips before bracing his remaining emotional strength to go down and get them. Then, he had turned on his heels and fumed all the way to the parking, only now having enough faith to park in the right lot.

So, finally, after long and agonizing minutes of stumbling onto his very own clothes and successfully tearing them off rather than undressing, he had end up here, under the shower, with a hell lot of reminiscing for his own good.

He was bent forward, wet palm first against the cold tiled wall; head dropped low with his short locks wetting his face and front body. Despite the coldness of the water running on his tensed muscles, he felt hot, terribly hot and so fucking messy in his usual cocky head.

He had been staring at his feet for something that felt like hours, fingers trying to bury a hole in the tile as to prevent them from going anywhere. He was unable to put a finger on what was exactly tormenting him, but he knew something was wrong if the itching of his ten fingers was any indication.

When he finally let them play, as they wanted, a couple of them immediately rush to touch and feel his lips, circling, investigating them as to understand why they felt like something was burning his skin.

While wondering what the fuck was happening to his body –and to his mind too- a pair of slightly fleshy and pink lips came into view, followed by the dizzy feeling of warm breath right against his own lips and the picture of a particularly dazed, but also beautiful and captivating redhead, eyes more marveling than he had ever noticed.

It took him some while to realize what the exact fuck he was doing and why he was such a mess. Finding a man cute and loving to tease him was maybe tolerable, but finding him dazzling and contemplating over such kind of thing was rather destabilizing.

Actually, _that_ _was fucking confusing_. He thought, face dark with something he would have like to be disgust but was nothing akin to that. He lifted his head, starring ahead of him at nothing in particular. 

The pale and red flowers adorning the tiles were still red and thorny. Nothing had changed. So, maybe he was thinking too hard and he was also so tired that, surely, his mind was playing trick on him or was it his body? Maybe he needed to get laid or to jerk off.

Yeah, it would be good.

One of his hands slowly ran on his thigh to meet his boneless member, but a knock on the door abruptly stopped its movement. He sighed.

Momoi tried to force the doorknob while banging at the door. “Dai-chan! Do you want to turn into a sponge??” she stepped out of the way when he finally left the bathroom, eying him thoroughly from head to toe. He dismissed her with a glare before going to his room and she didn't follow him because she knew how to be patient with such a stubborn and stupid guy.

During dinner everything seemed to be back to normal with him eventually playing with the baby girl, so he was sure now that he had been thinking too hard for nothing.

Momoi didn't think so because she noticed how so often he kept staring into space with a face mix between longing and disbelief and how he was unable not to smile genuinely when his phone vibrated.

She had to be patient. Through, she was unable to contain her own genuine smile.

~

Taiga was taking a long and burning bath, back leaning against the bathtub and head thrown backward so that he could stare at the white ceiling above him. His face showed no hint of the thought crossing his mind, but he had been thoroughly thinking over and over again about his behavior and also about what caused it.

His arms were lying on the cold edges of the bathtub and his hands gripped tightly onto the material each time -once he had closed his eyes- his chest remembered the pain Aomine's words induced in him. He was able to feel the stab as deeply as if he had just heard them all over again and it was suffocating when he focused on them, but he was unable not to.

There had never been any word coming from Aomine's mouth that Taiga didn't take seriously. He would usually ponder more time than necessary about them –so that he was sure he understood everything well and also because he was pretty comfortable with doing just that instead of focusing on what he had to do.

There was just no way he could forget them even if Aomine had apologized and even if he had, honestly, forgiven him. The man took such an important place in his heart and now he was forced to realize that, because some few words were enough to break him apart (even if it was for some minutes). He understood how precious Aomine's attention and smiles were to him, but what he couldn't pinpoint was the nature of his feeling.

He was sure he felt something akin to that when he had his first fight with Ivy. Well, it was not exactly similar but the end was the same, he had felt unbearably sad and broken after the fight but extremely relieved when Ivy came back to him. So he could be tempted to think that, maybe, Aomine had already won such a place in his heart.

But there was as well this unusual and frantic beating of his heart every time he drowned himself in Aomine's eyes or every time the guy smiled at him, that he had never felt for any of his men before and there was no way he could forget to put that into the equation.

Biting his lips as he averted his eyes form the ceiling with a flushed and painful expression, he thought of the final scene of this afternoon, the one that had his heart nearly jump out of his chest. And the convulsions started again, impetuous, as vivid pictures flooded his mind.

This time, when he closed his eyes, he had every moment Aomine had looked closely and solely at him like he was the entire world, breathing the exact same air and feeling his warm breathe on his skin; every moment Aomine had touched him whether it was to tease or to keep him in place; every time they had played against each other like the world was ending the same day; every time he had slept like a baby after meeting with him… as an unbearable feeling of longing started bubbling in the pit of his stomach with the need to see and to be touched by the tanned man, Taiga understood that there was no way he couldn't understand what kind of feeling he had for the guy.

He was not seeing him as a mere friend. No, because he was attracted to the guy and he could be oblivious as fuck but he couldn't not notice it. Not with how much his chest was whimpering.

Taiga opened wide eyes as the realization sank in and look back at his ceiling with a strangled “Fuck!” leaving his frozen lips. He sat up, panting like he had run a marathon, heart beating now with a motive completely different: fear…

Another realization fell upon him, hard like rock; he had been taking so many risks while thinking that nothing wrong could come from this and while doing so he had put not only his life, but also Aomine's on the line. How fucking reckless and desperate had he been!

Falling in love with Aomine would mean making him his soft spot and if any of his foes had noticed them, then Aomine would be dead before anything could even start between the two.

Taiga abruptly stood up, nearly tripping off his own feet. _What had he done, oh God, what had he done?_ Of course he was only attracted to him, but he was sure it would only be a matter of time to fully be in love with him and he had to stop everything before it became dangerous for Aomine.

The thought that it could already be too late crossed his mind and a second later he started panicking, cold sweat running down his nape. He looked back and worth around him, looking for his phone and the moment he spotted it he made a beeline toward it.

He didn't think much before dialling the number, but when a soft and tired ‘Hello?' reached his ears, Taiga immediately hung up and leant against the sink, knees weak.

Aomine's voice had been his usual huskiness but it was a bit groggy, like the redhead had just pulled him from his sleep and while it was the first time he had heard his voice –because they both were more into texts than calls- Taiga wished he had never called.

Some minutes later his phone vibrated in his hand, startling him. It was a text and of course it was from Aomine. He hesitated before opening it but he eventually did so because one part of him was dying to do so.

 

From: Aomine

23:59

Yo! whut's up?

 

Another text soon followed, successfully startling him again.

 

From: Aomine

00:00

Dude, som'thin wrong?

 

Taiga wanted to puke at how happy he felt just because Aomine took his time to text him, even though he was sleeping, but he didn't answer.

 

From: Aomine

00:05

Fuck off bastard!

 

It had him laughing to tears.

The next morning wasn't any different from his agitated night. He hadn't slept, thinking of how he was going to act in front Aomine now that he had been stupid enough to take more than a simple liking to the guy.

He was thinking of whether or not he should say to Aomine that they were never going to see each other again. It had not been an easy decision, but Aomine surely didn't belong to his world, he couldn't gather enough force to put him in danger even for the sake of their meeting.

It was unthinkable and he was sure there was nothing else to do. He couldn't ask Ivy about it because he was sure the guy was going to kill him for being so reckless.

He was still staring onto nothing when someone appeared behind him, gently tapping his shoulder. “It is rare to see you so bewildered, Taiga. Mind telling me what is on your mind?” the voice made him shiver and he turned to meet heterochromatic eyes looking back at him. He stepped away from the door and bowed slightly. “You are here quickly.”

Akashi hummed. “I am going to be quick.” He muttered, heading for the sofa.

Taiga nodded, sitting in front of him. “Of course.”

“It seemed that everything went rather well on your last meeting with big sister.” It was more of an assertion than a question but Taiga felt that Akashi was waiting for an answer.

He scratched the back of his neck, smiling sheepishly while remembering the actual meeting. He was not sure he could say that everything went well. “Yeah?” he inquired hesitantly, his expression showing that he didn't agree but was not going to contradict him.

Akashi's calm smile remained as he leant in to take the cup of tea lying on the gueridon near him. “My dad tended to choose his wives a bit hastily when he is bored. However she barks more than she bites. At least he asked me to make sure that she doesn't bite you. You can rest assured.” He elegantly lifted it to his lips, his dangerous aura still surrounding him even in such a delicate gesture.

Taiga followed the movement with a certain amount of awe; Akashi caught his eyes and smirked. “So,” he put it back on the table gesturing for his guards to leave them and once there was no one in sight he turned back to Taiga. “How is the business going since that?”

Taiga's eyes widened and he averted them, running his hand in his slicked hair. Akashi narrowed his eyes but said nothing; simply waiting for an answer he knew would come.

The redhead had been really busy since then, but not really for the reason he should have. And it was another time after yesterday when he could curse himself for being so reckless lately.

“For a reason, I get the feeling that you didn't expect this question even though you know it is the reason of my presence here.”

“I- it had been going well. We have everything in control.”

Akashi nodded, but his eyes were never satisfied and now they were heavier on him exactly like he never liked them to be. Dealing with that man was particularly difficult, even more than dealing with his mother-in-law. Taiga especially hated it, maybe it was big to say that he actually hated him, but he hated dealing with him.

“Heh, ‘We'? Since when did you start using we while talking about thing _you_ have to do!?” Another assertion question-like and Taiga gulped, honestly wishing father could have come to this meeting and not simply send his son. “You do know that you are under my protection because he asked me to?”

“Y-yeah.”

“Then try to deceive the only person actually caring for you and you know perfectly well what will happen to you.”

Taiga's eyes challenged him for a minute and Akashi made sure to show him that he was not pleased by the reaction. So, he averted his eyes and nodded. “The job will be done as he wants.” Akashi nodded too, standing up and heading for the door. He shared no more glance or words with the redhead and exited the room like he had entered it, unannounced.

Outside the building, a young girl was waiting for him, upon seeing his stern face she sighed and started walking beside him when he reached her. “Were you bullying Tai-chan again?” she inquired with pouting lips and as he looked her way he couldn't retain a satisfied smile.

“Sorry, I couldn't help it.”

“Shi-chan!!” she whined, pouting even more as she turned her back to him and crossed her arms on her flat chest. “I will report you to father.”

Akashi only smiled. “Oh please, don't.” he pleaded, trying to seem fearful and she deadpanned him, unconvinced. “Shi-chaaaaaan!” she whined again and it made him chuckle before the sound of loud laughter attract his attention.

When he turned toward the sound, he saw Taiga's men surrounding a young blond. Akashi narrowed his eyes as he studied the boy's features and he was not pleased at the suspicion building his mind.

As soon as he and the girl sat in his car, he took his phone and made a call. It didn't ring more than once and an overly cheerful voice came out of the device.

“Akashicchi, oh my, I am so happy, you are calling me! Do you miss me already?”

“Silence, Kise!” Akashi ordered and he could sense a pout forming on the man's face. He was so used to the gesture, he thought as he glanced to the girl beside him. Her face lit up when she heard the name of the person he was talking to and she started bouncing on her seat, gesturing him to give her the device. “I have something to ask you.”

“Hmmmm, Akashicchi is so mean… but what is it?”

“You told me that your brother went overseas, didn’t you?”

“Huh? Ryouma? Yes, he did. Ah now that you are talk…”

Akashi ended the call, not bothering himself to listen about Kise's annoying rambling. He eyed the scenery outside his window and muttered to himself with a frown. “So what is he doing here?”

~

Aomine pulled the trigger, five times, eyes focused and sharp; expression serene as his fingers didn't tremble even a little. His shots went right through his target exactly where he wanted it. He was formless, unlike how they taught them to be when ready to use the gun, but even with that he never missed his shot. Never.

He frowned slightly as his eyes bored a hole into space, the hand holding the gun slowly dropped to his side. “Is something bothering you, Aomine-san?” Mikki looked at the target slowly coming toward them. His shots were perfectly angled, but still something was different from the usual way he made them and she noticed it immediately. Especially with the way he hadn't stopped frowning and staring onto nothing since this morning.

She looked up expectantly at him and he eyed her from the corner of his eyes, silently at first and then he sighed while averting his eyes. They fell on a tiny notebook resting not too far from them, Aomine never left a room without taking it with him and Mikki made sure he did just so every time.

“Why did he give us only one month? What is the hurry? Why is it so important now more than it was some months ago?”

She widened her eyes at the unexpected answer and followed his eyes to the notebook. “He said it was something big, even bigger than what I was working on. Illegal traffic of children to Hong Kong… I really want to know what is more important than our citizens' children being abducted and sold to another country.”

His expression remained serene and grave and the more he talked the more his voice darkened. She could tell it was an important matter he needed to solve before going ahead on the case.

She grabbed her chin and thought thoughtfully, frowning. “Nuclear attack.”

He had to keep in a laugh. “I don't think Snake is this kind of dealer. But, well, he was supposed to be just a dealer and now we learn that he had a lot of blood on his hands too.” He scoffed, putting his gun back in its holster. “He said time was against us but he is hiding information from me. How am I supposed to find something when I don't know what I am looking for?” He whispered to himself, holding his hips.

She listened to him but said nothing. “I am the best and he clearly need me, so why hiding thing? Why making it difficult for me?”

“Why?” she gaped. “B-because the boss himself is protecting something or someone… could it be that he is protecting Snake himself?” Aomine stared at her and as her own words sank in her mind she started to look desperate. “W-we have almost deciphered the notebook… what if the contact of that man tell us that our own boss is behind everything? What if Snake is one of us or someone close to us? What will we do? What will happen to us if we learn too much?”

Aomine smirked and it took her off guard. “Do you trust me, Mikki?” his voice was barely a whisper, soft and soothing as his eyes focused on her with a protective glint adorning his blue orb.

Her eyes widened and she blushed furiously, dropping her head low before nodding hastily. He put her hand on her head and ruffled her blond locks. “Don't think too much of what I just said, ok? It is just my crazy mind thinking too much, so don't worry and believe in me.” She nodded again. He smiled, ruffling one last time her hair and stepped away, grabbing his coat on his way out of the indoor range.

She took her time but soon she was following him, expression more composed and a look of determination on her face. As they headed toward their office, Aomine pulled his phone from his pocket, frowning as he found no new messages or missed calls.

He was stressed enough with his work; he didn't need to worry for an idiot. But he just couldn't help, mainly because said idiot had stopped contacting him after a call in the middle of the night. Aomine glared at his screen and gritted his teeth. He had been busy so he didn't contact him either right after that. But normally when one was busy the other would send a text or two making sure they could meet to play or not, but Taiga had not messaged him even once after that, nor did he answer the messages he had sent him after the sudden call.

He thought he was angry because Taiga bothered him during his sleep and then didn't bother to explain nor apologize, but now he was angry because the man's silence annoyed him more than it should and made him slightly worry.

“…mine-san, Aomine-san?” Mikki peered once again into his face, brows slightly furrowed in concern.

“Huh?”

“Are you going to enter or not?” she held the door of their office opened, waiting for him to follow her. He cursed under his breath before nodding and entering the room. He put his phone back into his pocket after sending the exact same message he had been sending since the famous night.

 

From: Aomine

13:21

Ar we playin today or not?  

 

Sitting in a corner of his room while scrolling through all the messages he had received from Aomine, the redhead was not surprised when his phone vibrated again, flashing a text icon in his toolbar. He knew the expeditor even without looking and a tiny smile appeared on his lips before he started biting them in guilt.

Taiga would lie if he said that he wasn't happy that his silence made Aomine react like that. He would have thought that the other would ignore him too. Still, he couldn't answer his texts.

He had decided to ignore them until Aomine forgot about him and took his distance. Nothing had happened between the two of them so he was hurting no one, if not himself, while doing so.

He knew he was being a coward and it was not even about Akashi, his big demon, but he couldn't help. He dropped his head on his knees and sighed dejectedly. He was going to ruin everything and the tightness of his chest was enough for him to understand that it pained him deeply.

He didn't know what else to do because relationships was not for him and he had to run away from them every time he saw them coming. Plus, what did it mean to be in a relationship? How was he supposed to look Aomine in the eyes with all the thing he was feeling?

It didn't matter that Aomine would probably reject him if he knew about his feelings for him. He couldn’t put him in danger.

“Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!!” he cursed weakly, throat painfully dried. What did he put himself into and how was he going to go back to normal?

He wished someone would enter his room right now and tell him as much. He wished from the bottom of his heart that someone would tell him that he didn’t have to go away from Aomine and that he was stupidly overacting right now.

But never did he wish that he could forget these feelings.  


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aomine should be lucky to have such friends and things are spiraling a little bit for Taiga.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you very much you guys fro sticking with the story after this long pause. 
> 
> I wrote a new summary I hope it is better or at least as good for the story as it could. I was not satisfied with the latter as I am not satisfied with this chapter. I feel like I am still rusty with the writing and I want to take my time but I need to take the story going and I can't wait myself >w

Taiga pulled his bonnet past his forehead to cover his split eyebrows, face unreadable as he stared ahead of him at the court he used to so freely and happily go in order to play Aomine.

He was hiding in a dark alley not too far away from said court, watching as nearly no one came to it nor passed by. It was pretty normal considering that the sun hadn’t waked up yet; but he had been unable to sleep and as he had left his bed to have a glass of water –earlier that night- the next thing he remembered was that his feet had dragged him here.

As he could have expected he was assaulted by numerous kind of thought; the kind of thought that left you wondering how stupidly you could react if no one was here to stop you.

He was here, maybe a bit too early, to see if Aomine would be playing today. After all, they met at this place so it had already been a habit of the tanned man to come play here. He was aware of the fact that if he needed to take his distance to protect Aomine, he was all but doing the right thing. However he just couldn’t help himself.

Aomine eventually stopped texting him and while it was what he wanted, he realized how stupid he had been to think that it was going to solve anything.

He was a mess every day because he had reacted over something that didn’t even prove to be true and had deceived –maybe he was thinking too high of himself- Aomine.

Who on earth would even consider Aomine his weak spot by thinking that they were an item? Seriously. They were both men on top of that and no one would think that Taiga could be as stupid as to let such a relationship unguarded –well, he was, but he was making a bet.  

He gripped onto his bonnet, pulling at his hair through it and squeezed his eyes shut. He had never been as clumsy in his thinking and acting as he was now. He never cared too much about this kind of thing because he was not alone and his men were always here to protect what had to be protected and stop him from doing stupid mistakes.

But, for God’s sake, how was he supposed to handle Aomine’s case? What should he be doing right now? He felt so stupid for taking such drastic measure over a man who probably didn’t even see him as more as a mere acquaintance.

Taiga slid against the dirty wall and put his head on his knees.

Would Aomine come back to the court, without him, like he had never met the redhead at all? Would he start playing with someone else and go on with his life while Taiga was stuck with an attraction toward him?

He wished he had remained as oblivious and his heart as locked as it had been before he met him.

Distant voices coming from across the road were enough to pull him on his feet and make him go farther down the alley. He watched out in order not to be seen, heart beating faster as he stretched in an incredibly painful position to catch a glimpse of what was happening without being spotted.

He sighed in relief when he only saw some morning brats rushing to own the court. Well, _I overacted, like usual_ , he thought, rolling his eyes and shrugging off his thick coat.

He had to think of what to do now. Was he going to wait until he saw Aomine? And if he did just that, what was he going to say to the guy? For his part it was extremely unnerving even though he was sure Aomine maybe didn’t think anything was wrong.

Taiga buried his hand in the pockets of his sweatpants. Well, actually, he was sure Aomine didn’t give a fuck at all. But he was still aware of the fact that thing would start to be difficult if he stayed close to the guy.

He leant against the wall, throwing his head backward, eyes crying to the sky to, _please_ , help him figure out what to do now.

He squeezed them shut again, relishing onto the burning sensation induced by his lack of sleep while he internally humoured his life.

He wished to find a way to keep his heart from falling deep into darkness. He was afraid he couldn’t save himself from hell on earth. Now he found someone who wasn’t related with what he _had_ to do, someone he chose himself. But he couldn’t follow him. 

In one little week he had leaned how to carelessly enjoy life and how to breathe again. In another one he was going to fall back directly into Hades’ hands.

A ringtone had him fumble with his clothes to find his phone. Taiga cursed, silencing the device before looking left and right with cautious eyes. He put a hand on his chest, trying to calm his heartbeat as he looked at the caller ID. It was Ivy and as he decided to ignore the call, he noticed two missed calls from Nana. He was so deep into thought that he hadn’t noticed his phone ringing; cursing again, he put it back into his pocket before throwing one last glance at the court.

Maybe it was the last time he saw it. Taiga felt sadness seizing his heart. His eyes fell on the ground and he smiled.

“Aomine.” he muttered to himself before turning on his heels and disappearing through the darkness of the alley.

 

.

 

The moment he opened his door he found Ivy on his couch, head low in his hands. He lifted his head as he heard Taiga enter the apartment, face bitter and full of worry; it was a look he had never seen on Ivy’s face because the guy was hardly affected by things happening around him. 

Taiga’s guts twisted inside and he took more time than necessary to lock the door behind him.

“Where were you?” Ivy whispered, strangled voice barely audible.

Taiga walked toward him, his own voice rusty with worry. “What happen…?”

“Where the fuck were you?” Ivy shouted and it startled him, leaving the redhead speechless.

“What were you doing? With who? Why were not you here when it happened?”

“I-Ivy, for God’s sake, what happened?”

The man abruptly stood up and Taiga noticed with fright how wasted with blood his shirt was. He rushed to his side, grabbing onto the cloth and shaking him.

“What the fuck, Ivy, you are hurt!! Why ar…” his words were pulled out of his lungs when Ivy shoved him away, violently, glaring at him like he had never before, like he was ready to kill him.

“Where the fuck were you?” he barked, rage filling his expression and if Taiga was not so stunned by his behaviour he would have noticed how Ivy’s hands were helplessly trembling.

The redhead fell in a couch, staring at his man with wide and frightened eyes, lips ajar.

“He followed you… Nana followed you earlier to make sure you were not going to do anything stupid, he was worried because you have been so sad lately…” Ivy dropped his face in his hand, his whole body shaking with distress and the sight made Taiga felt like a dart was being pressed against his kidney.

“H-he called for you… he called for help, Taiga why didn’t you answer your phone? Why did you let someone hurt him? Why?”

Taiga stopped breathing. _Why_?

~

“Aomine-san,” the blond called while putting a cup of coffee on his desk, within reach. “Please take some rest now.”

He looked up at her as he straightened his back, wincing in pain. He stretched with a groan before reaching for the treat. “Thank,” he muttered hoarsely.

She glanced at the clock and looked back at him, a little bit concerned. He had not left his desk since the day before and even if it was still dark outside, it had been too long. She knew it was his habit, especially when something was bothering him whether it was in or out of his work. She just hoped he could be reasonable sometime.

Glancing at the notebook under him she noticed how there was now a tone of papers surrounding it and all filled with Aomine’s messy handwriting. He had already reached the few last pages and she couldn’t help herself from smiling out of pride.   

“Why are you smiling like that?”

“Heh? Ah, huh, n-nothing! Anyway, I saw chief earlier, it seemed that he had a meeting regarding another important case.”

Aomine’s eyes narrowed upon hearing that. “How are Hiroshi and Takamura doing?” he changed the subject without questioning her on the previous one.

“Huh? Oh, t-they are stilling tailing our suspects. I have a report every two hours and everything is under control. Also, I am still spying the drug department for any information so, soon, we will know if we can trust this notebook."

Aomine nodded absentmindedly. “Okay, good. But don’t take too much risk...”

“This is rich coming from you!”

Both turned toward the door to meet emerald eyes observing them as the man stepped into the office.

“Midorima,” Aomine muttered and the man adjusted his glasses on his nose. “What is it?”

“Nothing, I just wanted to make sure that you were still alive.”

Aomine rolled his eyes as Mikki chuckled discreetly. “Yeah, right.”

“Seriously.” He mocked and Aomine had to glare at him.

“No, seriously, what is up?”

Midorima shrugged and closed the gap between them, sitting in the chair in front of Aomine after bowing to the woman. “How are things going here?”

Aomine snickered and dropped his gaze on his pile of paper. “You don’t look good in the role of the caring friend.”

“That, too, is rich coming from you.” He smirked while leaning onto the chair and he was rewarded by a dim glare.

Aomine had heavy bags under his eyes and his appearance was dishevelled. Even his usual frightening face was without effect, he seemed exhausted. Looking up at Mikki, he silently acknowledged that she had valuable reason to worry, somewhat Aomine looked a little worse this time.

And Midorima knew exactly that he looked like that every time he meddled his job and his personal life. Midorima sighed, there was not even a chance to reason him.

“What was that for?” Aomine grumbled, outraged and it only caused Mikki to laugh louder. Midorima stood up, shrugging up his coat and rolling up his sleeves. “What are you doing?”

“Giving you a hand. You can go take some fresh air.”

“What?”

“Please use your ears…”

“The fuck! This is not a game and no one asked you to.”

“Yes, Mikki did.” He simply retorted, heading for the blackboard full of pictures and scrawls.

“S-sh…” he turned her way with a growl. “You what?” Mikki widened her eyes and held her hands in surrender, imploring him to calm down with pleading eyes.

He glared at her but eventually gave up, dropping his head on his desk. “I hate you!” he mumbled into the paper and Midorima simply answered with a casual and soft “Me too!”

“No, seriously, I fucking hate your annoying ass!”

“A-Aomine-san!!!!!!”

~

A knock on the door had Momoi rush to open it. She was not presentable because she had been playing with her turbulent and sadistic daughter for all day now but she thought it was Aomine –who had surely forgotten his key, again- so she didn’t bother to clean herself.

She waited on the entrance door for few seconds, looking at every side of the hallway but saw no one. It was weird, she was sure she heard someone knocking at the door but apparently she imagined it.

Tilting her head she stepped into the hallway to make sure no one was here before going back into the apartment with a shrug.

~

‘What happened exactly? I thought I made myself clear that I wouldn’t be satisfied with one of his men down!’

“Oh, yes, you did, big sister. But I am afraid my men made a little mistake.”

‘What mistake?’

“They thought the guy was our little redhead’s close friend and assaulted him.”

‘God, Imayoshi, how are we supposed to surprise him now that you fucked up like that?’

“I am sorry big sister. But rest assured, surprised or not, he will still be suffering hell by the time we are finished with him.”

‘… I hope so...’

Imayoshi kept the phone glued to his ear even as she ended the call and he sighed tiredly before sitting on a couch.

“I am very sorry, Imayoshi-san.” A pale blue hair man bowed behind him and he shrugged.

“Oh, it is not your fault.”

“They are my men.”

“Well, what is done is done. Now we had to hurry everything.” He turned his way, his smiling eyes shut as always. “It is time to go to the next level. Make sure not to do any mistake this time, Kuroko-kun!”

Kuroko nodded firmly and turned on his heels, leaving the devil smiling to himself. “Once I get rid of you Taiga-chan, I will be the next boss and you have no idea how many times I have been waiting for that.” He chuckled.

~

Aomine sat in the staircase, the only place where he could be able to take some fresh air while being alone.

He ran a hand through his messy locks, exhaling deeply.

 

From: Sat

11:41

Dai-chan, please make sure to eat properly.

PS : Shizu said she wanted popsicles

 

He rolled his eyes at the text, grumbling a “How could she, when she doesn’t know how to talk.” And a smile forced its way on his face when pictures of the little jewel came into his mind. He missed her and her fluffy smooth skin. 

Aomine looked at his hand, trying to remember the last time he took the little girl in his arms or touched her, feeling her warm and comforting touch against his own skin. And instead of successfully remembering that; it was a picture of the last time he held on to Taiga’s arm –the day they had that stupid and brief argument- that flooded his mind.

He clicked his tongue because it had nothing to do with what he was asking to his mind.  

Except that his phone was still showing no messages from Taiga. He wanted the stupid man to contact him so he could, at least, stop worrying or stop wondering what caused such silence from him.

“Don’t tell me he is still not over it…” he grumbled, sighing. “I apologized, for God’s sake. How childish can he be?”

He really wanted to know. And that would mean calling Taiga because texts were proved to be ineffective, but he was too proud for that. He had messaged him many times, it was all he could do because if the guy wanted to give him the cold shoulder, then Aomine was not going to call either, nor was he going to continue to text him.

He was too busy for that kind of lame-ass game. Seriously.

“Shit!” he cursed, tapping his foot impatiently. _And_ _I want to play that idiot_.

~

Taiga was leaning on his wall, looking through his window to observe the people moving outside. On his screen he could read this text telling him that Nana’s condition was now stable and that he was begged not to worry and especially not to come to their personal clinic.

He threw the device on the couch and resumed on looking outside, sorrow adorning his features. He hugged himself, keeping in all the tears he would have want to shed.

He could still remember Ivy’s expression of distrust and disgust while looking at him. He deceived him and in such a cruel way. He knew how precious Nana was to him even though they always fought. He cared for Nana too but it was not the same because now he understood the difference between caring for a close friend and caring for a special someone.  

He bit his lips and put his palm on the window. He really, really, felt like shit now. He was deceiving so many people at once. Aomine weakened him. well, everything was because of the man

He vowed to protect his family, to protect the people who took him in when he had no one. And for a man he didn’t even know –a man to say the least- he had…

Taiga painfully held back a sob hitting the wall with all his might, not minding the pain.

For fuck’s sake he was the boss and what he had to do now was to find the people who did that and make them pay. Why was he on the verge of tears, why was he feeling so helpless and stupid?

Ivy forbade him to act recklessly again, saying they were after him and that he should keep quiet. But he should at least be able to give order or whatever, do something about the whole thing. He was their leader and it was a shame that he was so unreliable at the moment.

He reached for his phone and made a call, asking his driver to come and take him to the clinic. He had to put himself together.

~

“Daii-cahn!!!” Momoi whined, pulling him outside of the shop. “Please, hurry up!”

“Yeah, yeah,” he mumbled, strolling after her even though she was pulling vigorously onto his arm. She stopped on the roadside, staring at the green light as if the gesture could turn it into red and he reached her, a sleeping girl inside his arms.

Aomine looked at Shizumi’s face and kissed her forehead as Momoi gently grabbed onto his arm and smiled fondly at them.

A tinted car passed right beside them; inside was a shocked redhead who couldn’t help his lips from trembling at the sight.

His hand gripped tightly onto his pants and he closed his eyes tightly shut behind his black sunglasses, feeling as his entire world was collapsing around him.

Aomine and Momoi reached his car and settled in. Once the baby left his arms he became gloomy again and his friend observed him as he started driving.

There was a complete silence and it lasted longer than she would have normally tolerated. But she needed to know what was happening so she was bracing her thought before confronting him. It was ok when he was all smiles and daydreaming, but now she didn’t like it at all.

“Dai-chan, what is wrong?”

Aomine frowned at her, not understanding and she faced him by sitting on her side. He disliked how the gesture gave him a bitter feel of déjà-vu. 

“You can talk to me, you know? Tell me what is wrong, you have been too grumpy lately.”

“You are imagining thing,” he mumbled reluctantly and averted his eyes to his window.

“Dai-chan!” She frowned at him, her voice sounding like an ultimatum.

“There is nothing. It is just work.”

“Bite me!”

“You are not edible enough for that. And, seriously, there is nothing.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“…”

“Dai-cha…”

“Satsuki, for pete’s sake, let me drive!!” he shouted aggressively, his hand tightening its grip on the steering wheel.

Momoi, startled, widened her eyes in utter shock and gaped at him. He didn’t look at her and settled to focus on the road. After some long seconds she turned behind to make sure her girl was still asleep.

She sat straight into her seat and said nothing. Plenty of thought crossed her mind, plenty of ideas of what to do to get him to apologize and talk, eventually. But she thought deeply of giving him silent treatment for his behaviour, except that she wouldn’t be the Momoi everyone knew if she did just that and somewhat Aomine was relieved to hear her again after his sudden and unexplained outburst.

“You have a bad habit of treating important matter like it is shit. You prefer running away, hiding yourself behind your stupid pride. It is the reason why your relationships never worked and your love life is a mess.”

“Hu- what? Who talked about rela…? Why do you think it is about my love life?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know! Why would I think that?” she asked as a matter of fact, eyes serene and suggestive.

Aomine didn’t like how her words ticked just the right way in him.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, ahem ^^", hello guys... so precious OnLyMinO suggested that I write a little more about Kagami's yakuza's life XD, well, I am not mastering the process enough to be called a pro but I help myself with the tone of yaoi manga and movies I have read since who knows when and I will be working more on that for now. 
> 
> Also, for those who still had not get it : 
> 
> Kuroko worked for Imayoshi and Imayoshi is like the right-hand man of big sister. Well, pretty much the one used for dirty jobs she wants to hide from her husband.
> 
> I know I keep too much plot ^^" ~ 
> 
> Anyway, thank you for sticking with it. I felt a bit like a stalker for posting a chapter every two days XD but I can't help it. 
> 
> This one is shorter because I didn't want to talk too much... Thank you for taking care of me.

Imayoshi laughed fully, uproariously, holding his stomach while feigning pain.

"Imayoshi-san," Kuroko sighed, sitting far away from him with a mug of coffee. "Please, stop doing that. It is disturbing."

"I-I am sorry… so sorry, but I… just… I can't." he breathed out difficulty, clinging to the couch and panting harshly. "This movie is just too funny."

"There is nothing funny in it." Kuroko sighed. He was starting to doubt Imayoshi's sense of humour.

"What? How come?" he whined, honestly gullible.

Kuroko sipped softly onto his beverage. "Did big sister call today?"

"Huh?" Imayoshi glanced at him from the corner of his eyes and slid in his couch. "No, not at all."

"I see."

Kuroko wanted to focus on the movie but he failed every time he tried. His fingers kept drumming impatiently on his laps.

"I have a feeling you want to say something."

Kuroko dragged his gaze to him and studied him silently, during a long time before he dared to voice his thought. "Taiga is not sleeping with father. Big sister is misunderstanding. The whole thing is a misunderstanding."

"How do you know that?"

Kuroko hesitated. "… I talked to Akashi-san. "

"Oh, I see."

"She wants to hurt him because she is jealous but it is unjustified."

"What should I understand?"

"… I don't hate him, I am just loyal to you, but if he is innocent then there is no need to hurt him."

Imayoshi stared at him and then chuckled darkly. "Kuroko-chan," the shorter man shivered. "I don't hate him either, but let me tell you something... I need to be the boss of this clan. I deserve it more than him, do you understand? This means, he had to disappear from my sight. Innocent or not, I don't care, big sister doesn't need to know and… _you_ need to do your job. Do you get it?"

"Yes!"

"Good." he settled back on his couch and started laughing his ass off once again. Kuroko kept frowning at his laps.

~

"How many men did you leave at his door?"

"F-five men, Boss!"

The redhead halted in his walk, looking briefly at his watch with a terse look and a frown. He lifted his eyes to meet imaginary one on the ceiling, keeping silent.

"B-boss?" He inquired weakly, looking at him quizzically.

Taiga turned his cold and distant eyes on him, sending chilly shivers down the man's spine. He swallowed down whatever thought he wanted to voice and stepped away cautiously. His boss's hazy gaze didn't follow him and soon he was walking again.

He headed for the door at the end of the hallway, tailed by three of his men and Ivy who were following them at a close distance.

Once he reached said door Taiga paused again but didn't face them, grabbing the doorknob. "Send four more in the neighboring of my apartment and the clinic. Tell them to be discreet."

"Heh?" his men looked at each other, again quizzically. "Why the neighboring?"

Taiga remained silent but eventually turned their way, hand gripping tightly the doorknob. "We never know when we can catch some careless fish. " he spoke quietly, a predatory smirk emerging on his lips. It was maybe meant to be a joke but it made no one laugh, quite the opposite.

Taiga's smirk fell then. He blinked absentmindedly, opening the door and turning his back at them. "Make sure to bring me one or two scapegoats so I can return the favor."

The order was clear on its own but as Taiga entered the room, Ivy stopped beside them and lit a cigarette. "I hope you guys do know that he is not in the mood to handle useless mistakes."

He blew some smoke, looking at everything but the three men. However, he saw them nodding with insurance in the corner of his eyes. "Good." He sighed, following Taiga in the room. They bowed until he was totally gone.

He closed the door behind him and leaned on it, his eyes immediately settling on the redhead's back. He was standing in front of the window but staring into space.

 _He does that a lot recently_. Ivy thought, pushing himself from the door.

"What did they say?"

Ivy stood behind him and looked out of the window, finding nothing interesting enough. "Nothing." he dragged on his cigarette, exhaling the smoke through his nose. "Their Boss is absent and his right-hand man swore he never gave such orders to his men."

Taiga buried his hands in the pockets of his smoking and closed his eyes for a brief moment. "Do you believe him?"

He shrugged. "Yeah? The baka had never been able to lie to me, so I am pretty sure he told the truth. Plus no one ever play me when I pull out my gun." He chuckled, dragging again on his cigarette.

Taiga opened his heavy eyelids and briefly glanced at him. When his eyes met Ivy's, he lowered them to the cigarette between his lips and the raven hair man sighed, reluctantly giving him his cigarette. "I was reaching the good part…"

"Did you talk to Nana?"

Ivy's lips parted but he said nothing, instead rolling his eyes toward something outside.

"Does he remember the tattoo of his aggressor?"

"No!"

"Then, at least his face…?"

"Leave him some time."

"I know. We just… we don't have enough time. I have to deliver the drug in two weeks from now on and we have to do things quick…"

"You can't rush, Boss! This is exactly what they are waiting for… for you to make a mistake and lose father's trust and protection."

Taiga smoked, exhaling loudly, turning his way when Ivy grabbed his shoulder, eyes distant.

"This deal is the most important of all those you had ever made. If you succeed father will have his money and you will remain the boss here! If you fucked up, you are dead!"

"Ivy," Taiga drawled, exasperated but attentive. "I know that already."

"No you don't because you have been acting careless… I mean you have been taking that so lightly recently, do you even get what is going on?"

"I do." Taiga glared at him darkly, spitting the two words like venom.

"Then what? What had happened?"

He kept their eyes locked but eventually averted his own and closed them, remembering despite himself few events of the last week.

"You can tell me, Taiga, everything." He pressed onto his shoulder, shaking him gently.

Taiga inhaled deeply and sighed, opening his eyes slowly. "I had my period, man. But it is a closed case now, don't worry."

Ivy blinked furiously at him before barking a laugh when Taiga smiled mischievously. "Fuck off. This is not funny at all."

"I know," he whispered, smiling to himself, throwing his gaze far away. "I just wish it could be."

Ivy's phone started vibrating but his eyes lasted a little bit on Taiga's back before he decided to answer. He walked back to the door to take the call and the redhead moved only when he called out to him saying they had to go.

Taiga nodded and followed him.

.

And things like these happened again and again until every body around was convinced that things went to normal with their boss.

He, himself, didn't want to think of anything. Just going on, just doing what he had to, just like old time.

Seeing Aomine with his woman and child had been the biggest slap he had, probably, never ever, received.

He realized this day that he was the stupidest guy on earth, so he stopped thinking.

He realized that he actually loved the guy, so he had… _just_ stopped.

Nothing had been so easy before and life went on while he successfully turned the page.

Three weeks ago, he met Aomine and he also agreed on the most important deal of his life. He didn't talk to him since the day he realized half of his feelings and he didn't see him since he spotted him by the wayside with this woman and child accompanying him. However it was for the best because, now, he was at his finest.

While leaning onto the railing, he stared with contentment at the whole crowd below him, his eyes wandering over every little head coming and going. The underground warehouse was so huge he couldn't pinpoint every face but he still observed them working. Here, the women were bundling the drug 24/7, guarded by his men; and in another room, people were taking care of the greenhouse. Everything was going the way he wanted it.

Taiga smiled a tiny one, barely noticeable; the kind of resigned smile you wear when you have decided to be satisfied with what you have because you can't reach what you truly want. And Ivy couldn't help but averted his eyes from it.

He nudged him discreetly in his ribs, Taiga nodded without looking and he climbed up the remaining stairs ahead of him.

"Yamazaki," the redhead leant over the railing, calling out to one of the guards near. "We are done here!"

The man nodded and bowed, grabbing tightly onto the submachine gun hanging around his neck. Taiga's fingers drummed on the material before he decided to follow Ivy, glancing one last time at his work.

The walk to his next destination was short. Upon seeing him coming, a man opened the door of a dark room and Taiga didn't wait before entering, finding other of his men in.

In the center of the room, a bloody and beaten man was tied to a chair, head dropped low and blood running from his face to his laps. The man taking care of him stepped away as Taiga approached and Ivy leant against a wall, far away from the scene.

"So, did he talk?" he inquired, stopping in front of the captive, looking up from him to meet other's eyes. The guys shook their heads and Taiga sighed.

"Oî!"

The man didn't even shiver, less again lift his head and Taiga rolled his eyes. Pulling his gun from behind his back and using it to raise the guy's head, noticing that Cyclops was indeed still conscious if the swollen glare he was giving him was of any indication.

Taiga's eyes held no pity, no hint of sympathy upon seeing him in such a bad state, well why would they? He looked down at him with impassivity, eyelids half closed as if he was bored of the whole thing and the man's eye –the only one that was still open- widened slightly.

"Do you get it?" he whispered, barely enough for both of them as he leant toward him. "I am not happy… I am not angry. I don't give a fuck at all. I feel nothing, so I could just…" his gun slid along the neck, stopping right against his pulse. "pull the trigger right now and end this whole game if you continue to keep you mouth shut..."

The man's eye trembled, but he muttered back a strangled, "Just do it, then!" with a challenging glare, spiting blood on Taiga's foot.

"Oi! Bastard!" a guard shouted.

Taiga couldn't help a smirk from invading his lips, pleased by the challenge. "Yeah?" he chuckled bloodily, entranced, as his index moved on its own on the gun. The gun forced its way into the man's pulse, making him hiss in pain and Taiga's smirk widened.

“Well, well, what have we here?”

 The redhead straightened himself to face the intruder only when he heard Ivy sighed in displeasure. Well, he understood him.

Imayoshi smiled and reached his side, looking down at the captive with a smirk. “Oh, you guys are having fun by yourselves. That is not cool.”

Taiga didn’t look at him. “You came quickly.”

“Oh, hello, Tai-chan, I am happy to see you too.” He motioned for the men in the room to untie the guy. “Big sister is itching to have a little talk with him before I take care of his ass. You don’t mind don’t you? We hate it when you dirty your hands.”

Taiga shrugged and gave him his back. He didn’t really care. Imayoshi’s role was to finish the work, though he never really knew what happened to all these men he had interrogated and then given to him in order to continue the work.

He just knew that Imayoshi always made them talk. He didn’t want to know more.

He was tired for today.

~

He had some second to relax, alone in the back of the car, the ride home would be long enough for him to even fall asleep. So, he slid comfortably in the seat, loosening his tie and eventually removing it.

He dropped his head backward, sighing loudly as his gaze settled on the rooftop. His eyes wandered on every curved and every pattern, focusing on his own breathing. After some minutes of doing just that he closed his eyes and exhaled, ready to sleep a little bit. It was a good way to avoid useless thought and he mastered the process already.

Every single noise coming from outside the car was weirdly soothing. Usually he would grumble about them because of a headache, but tonight he felt good. At least, he was trying his best to feel good, leaving no room to be disturbed from this feeling.

So, when the phone started vibrating in his pocket, he didn't frown nor complain.

He can remember that he kind of disappeared without telling Ivy that he was going home, so it was to be expected. He sighed contently. _He is such a mother hen sometimes_. He thought with a chuckle and without opening his eyes, he answered the phone as soon as he pulled it out. "Yeah?" he mocked, knowing perfectly well that the raven hair man hated it when he answered so casually after upsetting him. Well, he was in the mood for some lecturing and _no_ he was not a masochist.

"… It had been quite a long time." The husky whisper reached him after a certain pause, calm and somewhat soft.

Taiga immediately opened his eyes and straightened himself before even noticing it. All that in an agonizingly slow gesture, but not as agonizing as the silence that followed.

His heart made a weird kind of back flip when he recognized (right away) the voice. It was a mix between the one it would make if you were this close to be caught the hand in the cookie jar and the one it would make if someone had just hit it with a bat.

It was painful, suffocating and he found himself opening his lips more than once without being able to say a single thing.

"Hadn't it?" the voice inquired, flat, like he wanted to motivate the conversation and when Taiga didn't answer again because he had trouble breathing, he chuckled gently.

The redhead wanted to puke at how enticing he found the sound. "Heh, you know you just have to check the caller ID if you don't want to receive certain call." He didn't sound hurt at all while saying it. Or maybe he did. Taiga didn't know what to think.

"Baaaka." He drawled in an affectionate demeanor. At least, as affectionate as _the_ Aomine everyone knew could be. But it made him remember every time they talked about stupid things, every time they laughed and teased each other, every time they…

 _Fuck_. Why now?

"What do you want?" he wanted his voice to be cold and ruthless, but it came out a bit strangled (like he hadn't spoken for years) and also fucking desperate. Aomine didn't answer and it riled him up to a point he couldn't understand himself. So, he repeated himself, maybe a bit too rudely because Aomine inhaled sharply through the phone.

"What is wrong with you?" his voice was too calm, too patient. He was too composed while Taiga was starting to be a total mess again and just by hearing his fucking voice.

He didn't know before today that it was possible to love and hate at the same time.

"That is not your business."

"Oî!"

He should stay calm and handle this with wisdom. He should make himself clear about what he wanted now. He should drown the deafening sound coming from his chest. He should ignore the pain. "If you have nothing to tell, I will hang up. And please, never call agai…"

" _Taiga.._."

The whimper that escaped Taiga's lips was totally unintentional. _It is illegal, oh God_. He should have never tell him his name, well actually he should have never meet him. He should hang up. 

"You remember that day you…" Aomine started and the redhead had to grip tightly onto his hair not to go nuts. "No I don't!" he cut out harshly, not wanting to hear the end of this sentence because he knew he would be good to nothing if he let him continue. But, of course, Aomine didn't shut up.

"… that day I discovered you were afraid of dogs?"

"I said I don't!" why was he unable to simply hang up that damn phone? Why was he gripping so tightly on to it?  

"Well, I felt like coming back to the place. Bring back memories." He chuckled.

"Aomine, stop! Just fucking shut up!" he vented his frustration on the back of the seat in front of him, startling the driver beside it.

"I will stay here for a while…until midnight." Aomine mumbled like he was talking to himself and a part of him (one he wanted everything but listen to) kept telling him that something was wrong. Aomine was too _impassive_. But he didn't want to care, he was so angry that he was unable to keep it in him.

"I don't give a fuck about that! Are you even listening to me?"

The line was silent again. Taiga bit on to his lower lips, painfully.

"Come! ...Please." was all he added before the phone was disconnected and Taiga remained speechless while staring with shocked eyes at his black screen.

"What the fuck?" he mumbled in disbelief.

What made him think that Taiga wanted to see his stupid and despicable face again? What did he think the redhead kept his distance for? Why couldn't he understand that he was a nuisance?

"B-boss, is something wrong?"

He raised his head, shocked eyes meeting those of his driver through the rearview mirror. He could feel his pulse going mad through his temple and it made him dizzy. His lips parted but nothing came out.

Without him everything was going fine. _He makes me mess everything up and the bastard doesn't even know it!_ He was good without him, perfect even with everything back to normal. He was so not going to fall back into this kind of game again. He learned from his mistakes. So Aomine can go fuck himself. He had his family and his life, Taiga had his own and wouldn't risk that for him. Never.

They had nothing to do together now. He understood it.

"Boss?"

He was so happy he could make a final and good decision for himself without hesitating. He was so happy he could finally…

_._

_Did he say ‘please’?_

.

"Leave me here!"

"H-huh?"

"I told you to fucking leave me here! Stop the car, right NOW!!!"


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kagami is assaulted by countless of unwanted memories and Aomine doesn't make things easy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello guys, it had been a while I know xD. First of all I need to apologize for the lack of update, same old excuse of lack of time and it is true. I also have to deal with a writer block and it is painful, but my love for this fic is huge enough to keep me going, especially with all your great reviews and support. Thank you really, really, really, really, really, really much for all of this, guys. 
> 
> Unfortunately, I still have a lot of things planned for this fic so please keep up with me a little longer, ok? Thank you ^^". 
> 
> I also need to apologize because my beta is still really busy with school and I did my best to check the chapter but each time, instead of looking for mistakes, I added new words and now after reading it more than 20 times it had 200 words more so I gave up. I am sorry for the mistakes >w

His legs stopped in their tracks and so did his body, leaving him unable to move any further in the parking lot. He forthwith doubled over, wincing in exertion-induced pain, bringing a hand to soothe his burning and painful chest. Taiga silently struggled with the ache before finally leaning on to his knees for support and –what he thought was well deserved- a little bit of rest, panting and sweating like a pig lost in a microwave. His throat felt so dry that it could probably crumble like an old cookie if he drank anything right now and as he tried to blink his dizziness away, without much success because his brain wouldn't stop swirling in his skull, he felt an urge to puke.

The redhead could easily recall that he used to run a lot back then, when he was still a child, but never had he –well, he couldn't remember right now- run with so much despair as if hell itself was chasing after him or as if he was trying to break a personal record.

And yet, as a child he was running for his life.

Taiga stared at his brand shoes, definitely unfit for this kind of activity, brushed a trembling hand against his sweaty forehead and then ran it into his damp hair. The pained expression was gone from his features and now he seemed _confused_. But, as suddenly as it appeared, the confusion morphed into revulsion while memories -that Taiga thought had been locked forever in the darkest part of his heart- started flooding his mind.

Why… why did he have to remember that now? _What is that supposed to mean?_

* * *

 

At that time he was too young to understand why, but the little boy was smart enough to get the hang of things and realize that if he was alone since the day of his birth it was simply because he had been abandoned by his family –the people originally supposed to love and take care of him.

He spent a lot of time, wondering why they had abandoned him, as he quietly sat all by himself on the benches of the orphanage and stared on to space or occasionally at the bunch of children playing _together_. However, the reason was obvious. Even at the orphanage, surrounded by abandoned children who were supposed to be neglected angels, Taiga was always alone. The other children didn't want him nearby because ostensibly he was too flashy, too different, too _special_ and his persistent uneasiness at making friends wasn't the least appealing for such young souls.

For Taiga the reason was obvious. He was born to remain alone.

He could clearly remember the day they called him in that office. They used soft and harmless words under bittersweet tones as their gazes full of regret and sadness kept imploring for forgiveness, but the content of their message remained the same: He was now a nuisance since there were younger children who were sorely in need of his place in the orphanage.

Thinking about it, nothing made sense. He was still a child himself, then, didn't he need the place too?

 _How unfair_ , he used to think in tears and pain. Now it was all in the past and honestly, he would rather not recall these incidents.

He could be able to remember a lot of things if he tried enough, but he never really felt like it before (today). It was not because he was traumatized or something, he simply wasn't very fond of these memories. Though, not all of them were treated like that. There were memories he couldn't forget even if he wanted to, like those related to the day his life radically changed for the better.

He was ravenous, freezing to death in one of the numerous dark lanes of the city –he ran away from his foster family because he couldn't bear with the ill-treatment anymore- and a black coated man stopped in front of him and simply said. "I came to take you, Tiger."

He had blinked, fighting a numb and disoriented mind by roughly rubbing his eyes with his dirty hands, and had squinted at him. "M-me?"

"Yes." It was soft and low as the man contemplated the cute yet pitiful sight in front of him. Taiga's eyes had widened in fear and he had glanced from right to left before his lips started quivering.

"W-why? What did I do? Should I go sit elsewhere?" stumbling to his feet while using the wall to stand up, Taiga intertwined his fingers behind his back and lowered his head -exactly like he had been taught. "I-I am sorry for sitting here. I really am." His trembling figure spoke as much volume as his wavering voice on how distressed he was. The man abruptly knelt in front of him and pulled him close, dropping his head on a flimsy shoulder.

Taiga was indeed too surprised and too weak to react, but the hug was so warm and soothing that he didn't feel like pushing him away. "I am sorry, Taiga." He heard the man said, not in the least bit shocked by the fact that he knew his name.

"W-why?" he had asked without his better judgment, lulled in the man's warmth.

"Because… because I was supposed to take care of you and I failed."

"… I-I don't understand. Take care of me? Why is that?" his heart was beating at a slower pace, as if what was happening now was perfectly normal, and his body was becoming limp in the man's embrace

"I am indebted to someone who care for you... someone who is also very important for me."

Taiga remained in a dumbfounded silence.

"I know," the man chuckled and slightly pushed him away to look at his face. "I know." Taiga sleepily blinked and he was rewarded with a playful and soothing smile. They were so close that the boy felt embarrassed under the gentle and intense scrutiny. The man had such an impressing aura around him.

The redhead squirmed slightly as some dust was wiped from his flushed and soft cheek with a callous thumb. "You have to come with me, Taiga. I will give you a home and a family."

The boy's eyes widened at his words, pupils dilating and heart suddenly thumping in his chest. He stared at the man's face in pure disbelief. "A… a family?" was that possible? The thing he had always craved for. Was that really possible for him to obtain it?

"Yes! Taiga, everyone is waiting for you already." He grabbed the trembling shoulders of the skinny child and hugged him again, tightly against his broad chest. "You were the missing piece of the puzzle, Taiga, the most important one." From over the man's shoulder Taiga saw a raven child waving energetically at him from inside a black car, a wide smile plastered on his features. It was a smile so sincere and so childish that was meant for him, one he had never received before.

Taiga broke into tears, clutching on to the man's cloth, relishing the feeling of being hugged so tightly and so protectively for the first time in his life. "I… I don't want to be alone anymore… I want a fam…fa…" he whimpered weakly, desperately nuzzling his face into the man's chest.

"Yes, I know." The man muttered bitterly in his neck. "I am sorry for being so late, Taiga…" the little boy rushed to their side as he saw him crying and panicked.

"W-why is he crying? Is he in pain?" he pulled Taiga from the man's embrace and hauled him to the car. "Let's go home quickly, Akashi-sama!”

"Ivy, wait! He is al…" the man had yelled after them but the boy didn't stop. He sat in the car and kept Taiga in his trembling arms. The redhead remembered that he had cried himself to exertion and didn't make it conscious to his new home.

This home where for the first time in his life he was treated like a young master but, more importantly, like family.

* * *

 

The parking lot was obviously deserted at this late hour, for the drugstore had been already closed and Taiga was glad.

He was also thankful to whatever deity for this cold and soothing breeze. He needed it against his hot and sticky skin, not only to cool down, but to help him clear his dazed mind too.

He blinked, but his shoes didn't disappear from his sight. Why did he have this long flashback? Why now of all times?

The run had been intense and the adrenaline through his veins had successfully kept him away from any stupid thought related to what was going to happen once he would be there. He was thankful for that, but the flashback was totally uncalled for the moment.

Or was he so scared and shattered by the thought of seeing Aomine once again -after all this time and after what he did- that his mind had been forced to use the more drastic way to calm him down?

Taiga's lips parted for air, but he felt nothing in his lungs. Aomine's presence in him was so strong that it broke the locks of his mind. He knew that due to his past he had developed a tendency to get too easily attached to the people who showed him affection and attention, but this was fucking ridiculous.

He loved Aomine so much that it scared him. And, he didn't think about that when coming, but he really needed to cut all ties with the man. It should be his priority from now on.

When he straightened himself, breath now even and blood once again normally circulating through his whole body, he didn't care that there was a beautiful crescent moon enlightening his surrounding nor that there was this beautiful brand new car he had spotted in a commercial some days ago because in front of him, only some inches away, there was another car with a license plate that was way too familiar and a tuft of short dark hair inside that made his mouth as dry as his painful throat.

Taiga honestly didn't notice when his legs started moving forward, but he did realize it when he was suddenly facing the right side of the car and he was partly thankful. He knew he would still be standing and staring at the back of the car -as if it was a living prehistoric mammoth- if his legs hadn't moved on their own.

He felt it unexpectedly too vividly when he grabbed the handle to pull it and he was sure that such a trivial thing as opening a car's door had never been so fucking intense before. He would have remembered it otherwise.

The redhead was able to pinpoint with a frightening accuracy the exact moment his fingerprints collided with the material there, for he was so conscious and anxious. Taiga would have –if he didn't know why his senses were so sharpened- thought that he was developing supernatural powers. It would have been a pain in the ass to control and understand them, but he was sure it would have been fun if it was the case.

He would buy a cape, stuck himself in these lame pants that people seemed to like on superheroes, called himself Super Tiger or whatever, try to fly and save people from the evil. It sounded like a reasonable enough plan for the future.

That was if he didn't die of shame because, apparently, hopping into that car seemed more difficult and less stupid than merely standing here and thinking about how cool and powerful of a superhero he could be.

He wanted to laugh at himself for being so pitiful.

Sitting on the back seat, next to Aomine, wasn't as distressing as trying to get comfortable and to avoid touching him –they were certainly both too big, but there was enough space, still he was desperate not to have any single contact.

They sat in relative silence and despite the fact that he didn't move a single cell when Taiga climbed in, the way the thick air around him slightly faded after some seconds was enough of an acknowledgement for the redhead.

The place didn't do him anything, but there was no way sitting in this car that held so many _different_ memories was going to make it easy for him.

Taiga let out a breath he didn't know he was holding until now. He was bathed in a familiar and unnerving scent. Aomine's scent was all over the car, nevertheless there was also the faint but irresistible scent of cheerful and lively laughter, of croquette shared in an unexpected and funny way, of basketball, of wet feet childishly fighting against each other, of burgers, of knowing looks trade over similar and mischievous ideas…

It was the scent of all the things they had shared during these two weeks and Taiga -who was painfully reminded of the fact that he couldn't abhor nor deny them- shifted in his seat and shut his eyes tight as to prevent them from ~~crying~~ stinging.

Aomine was the first one to break the everlasting silence they seemed –in appearance only- peacefully settled in, voice low and unexpectedly soft for the reproach. "Why did you stop…?" and he hoarsely trailed off, velvet voice making Taiga's heartbeat skip with every fucking letter.

_… coming?... texting me?… cooking for me?... caring about me?_

Taiga didn't want to think about what he really meant, but it was obvious. _It was always obvious._ He felt a brief surge of panic in his chest because _fuck, was he hyperventilating? Oh God._

He was mimicking Aomine's sitting position and both were strangely focused on the scenery through their respective windows. However, Taiga would lie if he said that his whole being was not currently stuck like glue to Aomine's chest, for he could hear him breathe as if there were no dogs barking furiously in the background or no wind colluding roughly with the bodywork.

This was a thing he had done a dozen of time before, casually sitting in Aomine's car and exchanging with him, yet this time the pressure on his rib cage was already driving him crazy and the lack of air would kill him in a way or another.

He failed to notice betrayal in the whisper –that was surely not intend to be one- but it didn't ease the feeling of distress tormenting him. He was the one who approached Aomine this day, the one who restlessly fell in love with him and the one who cut all contact without a single explanation. There was no reason to hate the man even though it could make things easier for him.

Recalling Ivy's betrayed expression or Nana's painful breathing on the hospital bed was a low blow even in his eyes, but it was enough. "I didn't think you would care."

Really? His voice was not strained or weird. It was just like it belonged to someone else.

Aomine let out a low and shaky laugh before gently throwing his head backward. There was another moment of silence and Taiga seemed used by now because his knuckles were no longer turning white from the lack of blood and his lips were free from his idle and mean teeth.

"If you assumed I had not cared, then you don't know me enough."

He didn't want to be mean, of course, but the redhead felt as if someone had just slapped all the guts out of him.

"You are right. I don't know you _at_ _all_." he admitted flatly because even if it hurt, it was still the truth.

They were both at fault, maybe not to the very same extent but they were both at fault and Taiga wanted to tell him to fuck himself, but his tongue felt so heavy against his palate that he wondered if it was swollen.

Aomine muttered something under his breath and his eyes widened in shock. Taiga allowed himself to properly look at the tanned man.

"What did you say?" he was glad his voice had still this unknown and calm tone because there was some great chance he would have shouted otherwise. _Did he hear that right?_

The tanned man inhaled deeply -the redhead was once again greeted with the sight of his refined nostrils taking in more than they could- and then lazily rolled his head toward him. Taiga swallowed. It had only been one week but it seemed it was too long. Seeing his face after so long and having to bear with the scrutiny while feigning indifference made him cruelly weak in the knees and sick in the stomach.

His elegant and bored features were strained. Aomine seemed so exhausted and Taiga was not even trying to suppress the building need to wrap himself all over the man.

"I said," Taiga blinked sheepishly. There was a brief pause. Aomine looked at him like he was trying to understand something and then, his face slightly lit up as if he had found an answer that fit what he always had in mind. "that no one ever stopped you from knowing about me. I want you to know about me. You can ask me anything."

Taiga stopped staring at his face and focused on his words, then his lips slightly parted and he didn't know what kind of expression he had right now but Aomine's eyes widened and a slight expression of shock appeared on his features.

_It stung… nastily._

And now he knew. He knew why he had this flashback. The same feeling of longing linked Aomine and his past together. He craved for Aomine as much as he had wanted a family…

He started laughing; maybe a bit too loudly and too rudely, tears threatening to show at the corner of his eyes. The whole scene was so bitter that he didn't even convince himself. "Taiga?" Aomine narrowed his eyes in genuine confusion.

Hearing his name this time made him want to puke his heart and disappear. If it was one or two weeks ago, he would have cried of joy to hear that from the great _Aomine_. But, what was he supposed to do with that now? What was he supposed to do with that now that he wanted to cut ties with him, huh?

"… so much… I hate you so much that you can't imagine… you will never be able to imagine." He gripped on to his hair, itching to pull at it. Maybe the physical pain would make him forget about the emotional one, maybe it would help him even if a little.

Aomine could turn him upside down any time with anything, so he should have expected this, but he didn't. And, he had been stabbed before, but it had never hurt so much. "I hate you… I hate you so much!" he screamed in his hands, shoulders shaking with anger mixed with painful despair. The cocktail was as harmful to his soul as a missile could be to a house.

"Is that so?" somehow, Aomine's voice seemed closer this time, deeper and unexpectedly agitated, but Taiga didn't, couldn't, notice that.

"Coming here was the biggest mistake of all my life after the one I made when I started talking to you… I want you to disappear from my life… I can't bear with all that shit anymore… I can't put up with you, I never signed for this… I _need_ you to disappear from my life, I don't want to know anything about you, I can't even bear to see your fa…"

Taiga panted but calmed down, keeping silent. _I should go now, I need to get out of th…_

"My full name is Aomine Daiki."

Somehow, now the dogs and the wind were oddly silent.

The redhead straightened himself, looking ahead of him while he could feel the intense gaze of Aomine on him and the man was closer than before, but Taiga couldn't move anymore.

"I am 27," he said, bending his right leg at the knee and sliding it on the seat so that he could fully face the redhead.

"single" he inched his way forward.

"and without kids" his breath now ghosted Taiga's cheeks and from up close he could see that his eyelashes were finely long with the same color of his hair. He could also spot microscopic and inconspicuous dimples.

A tear caught his attention and Aomine absent-mindedly left his observation of Taiga's gorgeous face to instinctively slide the warm and rough tip of his tongue on the smooth skin and interrupt the salty tear in his race.

He had acted before thinking. He felt more than see Taiga inhaling a sharp breath as if awakening from a heavy slumber and then, the redhead met his gaze.

He was unable to read the expression on the redhead's face, but the latter was all but composed or disgusted, of course. Red eyes were deeply drowned in his own, often glancing down to his lips -probably looking after that teasing tongue and the air between the two was too thick.

It was the longest and also the closest he had stared at Taiga like that, but for Aomine it was barely enough. So, in a slow motion, as if to let him the possibility to back away, the tanned man closed the almost nonexistent distance between them.

His lips only grazed Taiga's and he gave a tentative lick to the unexpectedly soft spot before pulling away to gauge the redhead's reaction. Taiga's looked up and with the proximity he could tell the latter's breathing was as uneven as his own. His split eyebrows twitched sporadically and his pupils dilated. Aomine remained composed and serene, despite the exaggerated and warm flutter of his heart, giving him once again the time to realize what was happening and the possibility to pull back.

Then it happened in a blink of an eye, Taiga started to lean in toward the other's lips but for a reason he stopped abruptly and recoiled. However, Aomine was having none of that. Stretching a hand behind his head and another around his waist, he pulled him forward and smacked their lips together, harder, deeper, tilting Taiga's head so that their lips would fit in to the kiss like two pieces of a puzzle.

It was devastating and languishing. The redhead gasped and Aomine used that moment to slide his tongue inside his mouth and teased Taiga's.

He let out an unintentional hum and Aomine smirked, pressing himself closer, sucking, biting and drawing lips between his teeth. Their lips made a noise when they pulled apart to, once again, stare at each other, panting and literally breathing in what the other breathed out, unblinkingly. It was his first real kiss and it had actually broken all record.

For a moment Taiga felt like things were slipping off his hands, that he was losing his footing in a wave of unsuspected and overwhelming pleasure against which he was deadly powerless. The new feelings and the situation frightened him at first, but then he noticed it. Even in his dazed state it was still too obvious, the trembling of Aomine's hand, the unsteadiness of the breath melting with his own and the too possessive –almost desperate- grip on his nape.

And, for the first time ever it occurred to him that maybe Aomine's life was as equally fucked up as his own.

The realization didn't change what he had gone through this week, definitely not. But, right now, it did change his priorities.

Knowing that they were both vulnerable didn't make his hands more conceited or calmer, but when they made contact with Aomine's burning skin, they cupped his face as if holding on to a ticking bomb. As if letting go would kill both of them.

Aomine leant back on the door and pulled him between his legs. Taiga put his knees from each side of them, looking down into equally sparkling eyes. The redhead looked into this gentle loving gaze, rubbing soothing and curious thumbs on tanned cheeks. Aomine leant into the touch, closed his eyes and exhaled with contentment.

The thought that Aomine could make such a blissful expression _because_ of him made him smile timidly. He had never thought that a man like him, a man who had lived so much shit and had closed so much door in himself, could feel like an overcooked octopus because of another man. This was amazingly disconcerting, but he didn't feel like fighting any of these feelings. Not right now, not anymore.

Aomine opened his eyes, surely to complain about the lack of kiss or further interaction, but the moment he saw Taiga's face, his breath got caught in his throat. Taiga chuckled -Aomine was not sure if the redhead actually wanted to cry or smile- and leant to kiss him, running his fingers in Aomine's soft locks.

The kiss was different. No tongue, no teeth, no movement, just their bruised lips pressed against each other as if Taiga wanted them to melt together.

Aomine didn't complain, quite the opposite. They were both too caught in the moment. He thought he would never be able to see the redhead's smile again and he had felt so empty that he had practically begged him to come here. It had been extremely painful for his pride, but he was so glad he listened to Momoi.

.

_"You have a bad habit of treating important matter like it is shit…"_

.

"You don't deserve shit," Aomine muttered out of the blue after a moment of silent, kissing the back of Taiga's ear, echoing Taiga's statement from days ago. "I promise to never give you any shit, i-is that ok?"

Taiga fell on him like a deflated balloon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The last time I wrote a make out session or kiss scene in a mutli-chap fic was such a long time ago that I feel old and rusty. Also writer block makes it difficult to express characters' feelings like I really wanted to (when I was not good at it before), but I did my best so I hope it would do. Sorry if it is not the case >w


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The two need some quality time together before the storm.

Taiga exhaled a long and content sigh through his nostrils when he broke their umpteenth kiss to get oxygenated. And, like every time he had tried to pull away -but not completely- so that they could properly get their breath back, the grip on his hips tightened significantly, locking him on the spot.

Aomine guided his body back to the laps where he believed it belonged, despite the redhead’s protest and once more pounced on his bruised lips. Taiga growled in his throat, but complied nonetheless as the other tilted his head backward for a deep and open-mouthed kiss.

A quiet but unwitting whimper escaped him when Aomine gently licked and nibbled at the corner of his lips. And he let his fingers trail in the tanned man’s soft hair -the contact pleasant and addictive for both of them- while massaging his nape. Both hummed in approval in between the kisses (Taiga being louder of course) whilst their tongues battled ceaselessly and heatedly for dominance.

There was a sense of sheer terror perpetually coursing through his joints and veins at how inhumanly good and addictive Aomine’s kisses felt. In spite of the fact that the tanned man’s lips were too dried and his kisses too rough, as if he was impatient or desperate, Taiga was trilled by the interaction between their lips. The precise sloppiness and faint laziness of the kisses were surprisingly what he actually appreciated the most and he was melting like a freaking virgin.

Contrary to what one might think, this was not entirely new for him -because the first big sister he had had was a busty blonde who may have kissed him more than she had actually kissed her man (and he was glad Father was not the bloody-jealous type)- even if he had never shared kisses so meaningful before. 

_However, Aomine’s lips against his felt so right and so good, he realized that he had never truly experienced the true magic of a kiss._

Each kiss had a different meaning that Taiga was shamelessly pleased to understand. _Apology_ , _permission, promises,_ he could feel them all as if Aomine was writing them on his skin, as if they were sweet nothing whispered at his ears(or maybe he was imagining things, being too light headed) and he had to decide that anything that happened in the past, any pain or hatred he had felt, all of that was to remain in the past, long forgotten.

 The tanned man’s eyelids were closed and heavy as he continued to press Taiga’s body closer and closer against his, his traits eased in an entranced and delighted air. Aomine wearing such a foreign and rejuvenating expression instead of his usual smug scowl was definitely a sight to behold. The redhead felt like he could get sickeningly addicted to it -maybe not as much as he was addicted to the tanned man’s smiles, but still a whole lot.

Each light touch of curious fingers against smooth skin, each pressure of eager lips against lips, each clash of yearning gaze, each little thing currently happening between them felt so intimate, and not the kind of meaningless intimacy. It felt like he had finally broken through one of Aomine’s walls and gotten closer to him than he could have ever imagined. It made his guts churn with ecstasy and excitement.

Aomine drew Taiga’s bottom lip between his teeth and released it with another lewd (and still embarrassing) noise, successfully stopping the redhead’s train of thought. Taiga gasped in the kiss and Aomine swallowed it greedily with a sly smirk. “What are you thinking about?”

Taiga shuddered at the breathless and dark whisper, groggy sound doing very bad things to his soul. He cupped Aomine’s face to kiss him again and hide his torment, but the man dodged playfully, snickering when the kiss landed on a tanned jaw.

He snarled impatiently and tried to glower at him but Aomine only grinned and flicked his tongue across the redhead’s lips, the gesture so playfully cute that he ended up in a blushing and lip-biting mess instead.

Aomine chuckled proudly and continued, so the redhead finally captured the teasing and annoying tongue between his teeth and sucked it harshly as a payback.

The motion stirred a loud and enjoyable moan from the tanned man, the melodious sound vividly reverberating in the redhead’s throat as he swallowed it as covetously with a kiss. Aomine then hummed, grabbing the redhead’s hips so tightly that it started hurting and Taiga glanced at him curiously, his face slowly contorting into a grimace. His movement then stilled -heart thumping louder and knees weakening ridiculously- under the intense and lustful gaze fixed on him. He could only but swallow the lump in his throat, rendered silent in these protective arms.  

Aomine sniggered at his flabbergasted and flushed expression, taking advantage of whatever was running through Taiga’s mind to remove the two last buttons of the redhead’s expensive shirt. “You look good in _that_. Didn’t know you have it in you…” He snaked his hands in the newly found opening before the other could react, his swollen lips breaking into a wolfish grin as he grabbed Taiga’s flesh.

“Sh-shut up, bastard!”

The stimulating friction of Aomine’s cold digits rubbing flat against his warm sun-kissed skin sent a violent thunderbolt down his spine. The unexpected, but delectable sensation made him thrust his hips vigorously, crotch rubbing roughly against Aomine’s, and he gasped at the pleasure. “ _Shit_!”

Aomine chuckled blithely and loosened the grip on Taiga’s hips, certain that it will sting a bit later and leave one or two unpleasant marks on the redhead’s skin, buthaving no regret whatsoever.

“Wh-what are you laughing at, asshole?” he puckered his lips and glared blearily at him from under his fluttering red lashes. Aomine lifted an innocent eyebrow, shrugging one shoulder before stretching a hand toward the other’s face to thumb his soft and wet lips. “ _Nothing_ ,” he drawled, but Taiga could swear that the look in these hypnotizing navy-blue irises said otherwise. He groused a little (without real heat) but Aomine’s gaze didn’t falter, so he rolled his eyes to distract Aomine’s attention from his flushed face and dropped his head on the man’s shoulder. In another situation, he would have kick his ass for making fun of him, but not now that Aomine’s face looked so… so…

Aomine noticed the blush running as far as Taiga’s ears and smiled to himself. “ _Pervert_!” he chuckled, and Taiga blushed ten times deeper. “Ooh, shut up!!”

They remained motionless, comfortable in the unusual position and oblivious to the night slowly, but surely coming to an end.

The heated tension finally cleared away and Taiga relaxed as much as he could against Aomine’s warm body. He was only now affected by the side effect of the secreted adrenaline of the minute prior - set aside the days of utter worry and sorrow that he had spent out of Aomine’s life.

That thought then made him remember with a pang of discomfort the reason why he had had to go through these painful days. However, Taiga wasn’t willing to make the same mistakes by fussing over improbable situations or uncontrollable feelings. He clearly wasn’t good at it and he wasn’t going to ruin their moment by thinking about that now, not when he still had to think about the best way to tell _all_ the truth to Aomine, notwhen _Aomine was so close that he could hear his heartbeat as vividly as though he had the organ inside his skull._

Taiga bit his lips, burying his face deeper into the other’s neck as two arms possessively wrapped themselves around him in a secured and tender embrace. Aomine smelt like a mix of sweat, sweat, sweat and only, but faintly, like strawberry shampoo, as if he hadn’t put on any perfume for a long time, but he liked it. And he could be laughing right now because among all the flavors Aomine could use, it had to be strawberry one and so not like him; but he didn’t feel like it. He felt like sleeping.

And the movement of Aomine’s chest, heaving and slouching with every intake of air, was so calming that he was lulled into sleep the moment he closed his strained eyes.

* * *

 He was half awakened by the sound of car engines whirring in the near distance, people talking endlessly and doors being noisily slammed beside Aomine’s car. He considered bearing with it a little longer until the noise ceased because he was pretty comfortable on top of being sleepy. Yet the noise became annoying to the point that he fully woke up with a scowl. He aggressively blinked at the people going back and forth around the drugstore, oblivious to his irritation.

Taiga finally yawned when he understood that only glaring wouldn’t take him anywhere and ran a hand in his hair before trying to stretch his numb body, only to be stopped by a lump on his lower part. He then noticed that he had somehow moved to a more confortable position on the backseat whilst still being glued to a certain tanned man and the picture didn’t immediately ring a bell.

His dreamy eyes went along the sleeping form, until they fell on Aomine’s relaxed face. His heart skipped a tiny bit and he blinked quizzically, the time to remember everything that had happened during the night.

He sat up straight, indulging himself in a silent observation of Aomine’s sleeping expression and sneering lowly when Aomine’s brows twitched in protest against an imaginary bug. The tanned man was drooling on the seat, mouth ajar and tousled locks pointing everywhere, exactly like his limbs. And, even if something was whispering at the back of his mind that this was utterly disgusting, the redhead couldn’t help but find it endearing.

He noticed the heavy bags resting under Aomine’s eyes together with his pale complexion and he felt the need to touch him again, to wrap himself around him because Aomine looked so vulnerable and exhausted. But when his hand hovered the tanned forehead Aomine wrinkled his nose and made a weird noise akin to a pig’s growl. The redhead then pulled his hand back and rolled his eyes, smiling lovingly but obliviously as gentle warmth spread in his chest.

Taiga made sure to engrave the picture in his mind as future teasing-material...

His smile slowly fell and he blinked vacantly, thumbing his bottom lip while he recalled the sensation of Aomine’s kisses, a light blush making its appearance on his face. Taiga closed his eyes, suddenly feeling taut and doleful, torn between the joy provided by these intoxicating feelings he had for Aomine and this sudden guilt.

_His gang saved him when he had no future but only death waiting for him while Aomine made him feel as alive as he had never ever been..._

_His gang… again_. Something in his head whispered, annoyed

Taiga remembered Aomine’s words from the night before. _What exactly did they mean? Was it a confession? Should he say something too? Are they going out now, just like that? What if…?_

He felt the back of two fingers trailing feather-light and stealthy touch on his arm, so he looked down only to find Aomine gazing stolidly and unblinkingly into his brooding eyes. Taiga’s heart jumped in his chest and he blushed, but he held his gaze, stubborn.

His lips stilled when he tried to speak and he was partly glad because he didn’t know what to say or how to calm his heartbeat. Aomine kept staring at him through his half-closed lids and Taiga steadfastly refused to look away. The tanned man then sat up straight and leant a little bit forward to peck him on the lips.

Taiga’s eyes widened.

Aomine snorted, then shrugged. “What? Never heard of a good morning kiss?” and then a lopsided grin suddenly appeared, one that Taiga didn’t appreciate at all. “You weren’t complaining yesterday though.” And that earned him a well-deserved hit to his head followed by a growled “Asshole.”

“Oww, that hurts!” but he was chuckling nonetheless, inviting him and Taiga complied, deciding that the sour thought and the introspection could wait a little longer.

Moment later, he followed Aomine -a bit too eagerly- when the tanned man suggested they grab something to eat before hitting the court and he could have never been more thankful, for the first part actually. Taiga couldn’t remember the last time he ate to his heart content and actually enjoyed the meal. They both ate in a relative silence, never mentioning whatever had happened the night before. The redhead felt a bit tensed and embarrassed whenever they had to make eye contact and simply by sitting near him without saying anything, but Aomine seemed totally carefree and at ease - _the sexy bastard._

Taiga rolled his eyes and tried to focus on his fucking burgers when just watching Aomine shoving food in his mouth became too erotic – _fucking dirty mind of his_ \- and he shifted sheepishly, grabbing a bit too roughly his can of coke in an attempt to find something to do for his idle left hand. It needed to stop bumping against Aomine’s right one because every damn time it did, the temperature rose subtly but only for him and it was annoying.    

Aomine sighed, slightly puffing his cheeks and exhaling air through his mouth in an exasperated tic. It was one thing ~~beyond the too many cute ones~~ that Taiga had noticed about Aomine; and he would rather like to focus on the fact that Aomine did it often when he was bored, than on his incessant craving to notice even more of the guy’s gestural. But right now there was no need for craving anything from afar, not when he could have it just by stretching his hand because he was now together with Aomine, wasn’t he?

Aomine sank onto his seat and leant further on the steering wheel, drumming his thumbs on the material as he tried to steel a glance at the grey sky above them. “I guess we can’t play today either.”

“Yeah, seems like it!” Taiga nodded absentmindedly, glance shuttling non-stop between the boys playing under the drizzle and the man sitting dejectedly near him. Aomine sighed again and then frowned; slowly glancing at the redhead who was caught staring back. He suppressed a smirk. _Herculean effort_.

Taiga seemed unaffected even though it was obvious they wouldn’t be able to play any ball today and he couldn’t guess why. He was about to question the reason why, when a violent thunderbolt suddenly flashed above them, causing an unwelcomed and unsubtle shiver to run down the redhead’s spine. A surprised yelp escaped his lips and he almost chocked on his food, drawled into a series of painful coughs. 

Aomine then glanced at him curiously, forgetting about his previous thought and a smirk slowly spread on his lips as he muttered effortlessly at his companion. “You scared?” his tone was a tad more playful than it usually was and he marveled at how stupidly fast Taiga turned his way.

“No fucking way!” the later bit back right away and Aomine only but chuckle, stirring an annoyed growl from the redhead’s throat -so what if he had very bad experience with lightning? “Stop that!”

“Stop what?” he inquired half sheepish and half playful. His face couldn’t be more innocent if not for the devilish and amused smile he couldn’t muster enough force to hide and the so obvious glint of mischief in his intense navy blue orbs.

“ _That!_ ” Taiga pointed out with a glare, but was quick to avert his eyes so that he could hide his flustered face because fuck; Aomine’s eyes were really no joke when they were smiling like that and now more than ever they did thing to his chest he was sickeningly weak against. He could definitely write a book that he would entitle: The amount of thing I notice about him and the amount of thing they do to me.

Aomine barked a laugh, husky voice vibrating deeply in the seclude area but Taiga didn’t care because he had already decided long ago that he loved that sound. It was very good music to his hear even though it never failed to annoyingly turn his joints into jelly.

His laughter eventually ceased, replaced by a calm and soothing silence. The redhead slid in his seat and sighed, burying his oily hands in the pocket of his hoodie. “That is such a waste of time.” He glared at nothing in particular, looking past his window.

He didn’t regret coming here but he had been looking forward to the game since Aomine had mentioned it earlier. It was pretty frustrating that their plan was once again ruined. His hands and legs were itching to touch a ball and furthermore to play Aomine, actually more than they were itching to touch him and his goddamn hot body all warmth and muscles because… _Holy fuck,_ his mind needed to slow down a bit.

The tanned man only but shrug, and of course Taiga couldn’t see it, so he eventually wondered out loud. “Yeah, really? …Well sort of.”

It was sluggish; and absentmindedly said so Taiga didn’t really get it. He looked at him with his brows furrowed, hoping to get all his attention but Aomine was finding extremely interesting droplet on his own window.

“Hey!” Taiga leaned against his door and nudged him with his barefoot.

“Oî!!” Aomine pushed it away with a disgusted glare but the redhead ignored it, too focused on his previous words. “What did you mean by ‘ _sort of’_?”

Aomine stared at him, contemplative, like he had forgotten his own words. And when they came back to him, he clicked his tongue and averted his eyes as if his very own thought were too much to handle. “Tsk! That is disgusting! Don’t put your wet foot on me.”

“Yeah, ok, whatever.” Taiga rolled his eyes, sitting expectantly in front of him. He was glad the fact that he didn’t mind at all when the redhead’s feet were everywhere on him as they slept last night wasn’t mentioned. Well, Taiga is an idiot.

And that damn expression, the one Taiga wore every time he tried hard to understand the whole universe just by looking at Aomine – and he appreciated the effort, really. But it left him with no room to take back his words.

“It is not really a waste of time, is it?” he finally gave in, with a sigh.

Taiga’s frown deepened and he understood that he had to explain himself. What a genius. “I mean, not if we find something else to do.”

“But we came to play ball,”

Aomine rolled his eyes. “Yeah and that is why we need to find something _else_.”

“Like what?” Taiga straightened himself, brows still furrowed but for another reason, and when Aomine thought about what he was about to say next, he suddenly felt pressured. _Shit!_

Well. He merely shrugged off the feeling and casually answered, eyes fixed on Taiga to gauge his reaction. “I don’t know, maybe hang out at my… my place or something.”

It sure was meant to be as casual as possible. He hoped the sudden and rapid change of pace in his chest went unnoticed and that Taiga would think that his tongue had _casually_ slipped on his teeth. _Legit_.

Anyway, it was unnerving and a bit confusing because Taiga was surely not the only one nor the first person he had ever invited to his place. More than often it was women who were supposed to help him get laid. So what about feeling pressured upon inviting a single male for simply hanging out?

Aomine once again shrugged off the feeling; adding it to the list of uncharacteristic and weird one he had been feeling since some time ago. And he avoided thinking that a certain someone could be the cause.

Still, as he had been debating over the reason why his tongue had, not so elegantly, slipped, a little voice in his head had murmured that he knew exactly what the reasons where.

And maybe yes he did. It was just that over their usual meeting, the redhead had made it kind of clear that going to his place was a forbidden thing since he had casually rejected every offer to have a ride home with Aomine. Furthermore, Aomine didn’t know if the other way was also forbidden.

So, he was just a little bit anxious that Taiga could refuse such an invitation. He didn’t necessarily know why that could matter –he was the Aomine Fucking Daiki after all- but he was a little perplexed.

Taiga had narrowed his eyes at him, lips frozen in a straight line and eyes burning hole in his skull. His expression was unreadable and it was all but more stressing for Aomine because, no shit, but sometimes Taiga could be very intimidating. It seemed that he was gauging Aomine’s actions too, just starring back at him but he was actually trying to catch a mental picture of the tanned man -but the latter didn’t need to know that.

He just shrugged, sitting straight again in his seat and resumed on stuffing his mouth. “Sure, why not.”

Aomine had blinked furiously before the information could sink in his mind. “Yeah,” he tried to laugh but it was somewhat stuck in his throat. “Why not,” he mused and he felt stupid for worrying over it.

But, if Aomine had not been kind of surprised by the turn of event, he would have noticed that the redhead was now the one to be madly anxious. “I mean… you sure about it?”

Taiga chuckled childishly and stretched his legs on the dashboard, joking about Aomine being shy while the latter tried to get rid of his feet all over his holy car. The redhead smiled sheepishly and pulled his feet to his seat, sliding a little further into it so that he could get himself more comfortable or maybe trying to hide his sudden discomfort. And Aomine couldn’t help but think that he was such a giant child.

The trip went relatively calmly, both more focused on the landscape outside than on their little chitchat. Aomine’s grip on the steering wheel was even tighter than it had never been and he couldn’t help stealing brief glance to his side toward the oblivious redhead who seemed so weirdly fine that he had to wonder if the idiot actually knew what exactly he was implying by inviting him over.

Taiga sneezed, startling him out of his train of thought and he glared at him for that. 

“What?” the poor guy inquired, shrugging before smiling as playfully as he could despite his slightly pink cheeks. He had to admit that he loved seeing Aomine so uncomfortable.

They continued talking and he stopped the car at a traffic light, right next to a black car with tinted windows. Kagami was laughing his ass off at something Aomine had said previously and the two of them were looking straight at each other, chuckling both in embarrassment and lovesickness, oblivious to the surrounding as two children on their first trip to the outside world.

Aomine leaned a little bit toward him, arm stretching to Kagami’s seat in a we-are-talking-totally-normally way and the redhead cooed at the gesture, eyes glowing with mischief and amusement, the world only resolving around each other.

Next to them, behind the window, a gun was pointed directly at Aomine’s nape. A gloved finger caressed the side of the weapon before slowly sliding to the trigger and playing a bit there, ready to pull it at any moment, waiting for the good one.

Aomine licked his dried lips, tentatively, to wipe off the embarrassment of having leant a little too close to Kagami’s face. So close that the sudden heat brought back some guts-churning memories he would have rather wanted to solely leave to the back of his mind.

Taiga’s heart was beating like a fool and he was satisfied to feel his whole body being disrupted by this living being. He was utterly and naively satisfied because in this moment he felt like he had or he could really reach happiness. Aomine didn’t seem to be any better in this moment.

And it was the one that the ill-natured finger chose to harden his feather-like grip around the trigger, ready to do its job, moving only some inch but going to knock over someone’s universe…

And then, a buzzing sound suddenly made Taiga jump out of his body, heart nearly running out of his mouth as Aomine recoiled with a hand plastered over his chest. They immediately turned to the backseat, wide eyes zeroing on the device vibrating its way there. Aomine as always was fast to react and launched himself to grab it, making a certain someone cursed as his target drift away from the perfect spot it had some seconds ago.

The traffic light turned green after Aomine had grabbed his phone, answering to Mikki’s call and Taiga sat straight again, trying to even his breathing.

“Aomine-san!” she began, breathless.

“What is up, girl?”

The redhead lifted an annoyed eyebrow but said nothing. Aomine tucked the phone between his shoulder and his cheek, and maneuvered the car to the left where the road would surely lead to his home, before slowing down at his teammate’s words. “What did you just say?”

“I-I said that we found it, Aomine-san… everything fits with what we learned from the notebook and the database just gives us a name. I am positive that this time we found it, you need to co-”

“I am coming right now.”

“O-okay!” she beamed.

Aomine’s eyes were wide open, lips smiling despite himself. He ended the call without further ado from his part and turned toward Taiga, ready to share the news with him as if he was sitting next to a coworker.

However, he quickly remembered with whom he was presently. And his bright smile faded when he realized what he had just told Mikki implied. He opened his mouth but before he could say anything to fix things, Taiga smiled a it-can’t-be-help kind of smile and shrugged.

“It is ok,” he said simply, surprised by his own composure. “We will… I mean, we are gonna hang out another time.” He added afterwards, but what else could he say when he could feel that whatever it was, that thing was very important for Aomine.  

Aomine nodded, stopping the car not too far from that traffic light where oblivious to them, he could have lost his life. “I am sorry.”

“Well, you owe me something.” Taiga pulled out his tongue and Aomine responded absentmindedly, nodding again, swearing he was not so focused on this devilish tongue.

“Yeah, I owe you something… anything.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am trash and I have no other excuse this time. I am ready to be executed by you guys. And I am sorry for taking such a long time, but l really am trash with a huge writer's block. Also, so many months without writing anything, I feel rusty and I am sorry for any mistake.


End file.
